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EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE    I.AVMEN'S    MISSIONARY     MOVEMENT. 

BcKin  >t  top,  and  read  froin  left  to  right: 

G.    W.   CAIN,    W.    K.    LAMBl'TH,    P.    M.    DANIKI.,    GEN.  JULIAN   S.    CARR,  JOHN  K.    PF.PPEK,    W.   G.    M. 

THOMAS,    C.    II.   IRELAND,   T.  S.    DE  AKMAN,   D.    II.   ABERNATHV.    E.  D.    NEWMAN. 


THE 


.CALL  OF  GOD  TO  MEN 


PAPERS  AND  ADDRESSES 

OF  THE  (^ONFERENCE  OF  THE  LAYMEN'S  MISSION- 
ARY MOVEMENT  OF  THE  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH 


Held  at  Chattanooga^  Tenn,^  April  21^23^  igo8 


PUBIylSHED  FOR  THE  LAYMEN'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT  OF 

THE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH 

G.  W.  CAIN,  Sec,  Nashville,  Trnn. 


ffi 


OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES. 


Officers. 

John  R.  Pepper,  Memphis,  Tenn President 

C.  H.  Ireland,  Greensboro,  N.  C First  Vice  President 

E.  D.  Newman,  Woodstock,  Va Second  Vice  President 

T.  S.  De Annan,  Mangum,  Okla Third  Vice  President 

G.  W.  Cain,  Nashville,  Tenn Secretary 

F.  M.  Daniel,  Mammoth  Springs,  Ark Treasurer 

Executive  Committee 

consists  of  the  above  officers  with  the  addition  of 

Julian  S.  Carr,  Durham,  N.  C. 

W.  G.  M.  Thomas,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

D.  H.  Abemethy,  Pittsburg,  Tex. 

W.  R.  Lambuth,  Secretary  Board  of  Missions,  ex  oMcio. 

The  Central  Committee 

(Made  np  of  the  lay  leaders  of  tlie  Annual  Coo&rence). 

Maj.  A.  D.  Reynolds,  Bristol,  Tenn. ;  Dr.  A.  E.  Bonnell,  Muskogee,  Okla. ; 

C.  M.  Phillips,  Louisville,  Ky. ;  Gen.  J.  S.  Carr,  Durham,  N.  C; 

Judge  W.  E.  Williams,  Fort  Worth,  R.  F.  Burden,  Macon,  Ga. ; 

Tex.;  T.  J.  Watkins,  Orlando,  Fla. ; 

T.  B.  King,  Memphis,  Tenn.;  F.  B.  Thomas,  Roanoke,  Va. ; 

L.  M.  Pennington,  Eatonton,  Ga.;  M.  W.  Thomas,  Ashland,  Ky. ; 

W.  W.  Carre,  New  Orleans,  La.;  C.  H.  Ireland,  Greensboro,  N.  C. ; 

E.  G.  Knight,  Dallas,  Tex. ;  R.  H.  Wister,  San  Antonio,  Tex. ; 

F.  M.   Daniel,   Mammoth   Springs,      J.  J.  Lamb,  Coquille,  Oregon; 
Ark.;  J.  S.  Gaul,  Wihnore,  Ky.; 

J.  B.  Carlisle,  Spartanburg,  S.  C. ;  Judge  J.  S.  Steel,  Lockesburg,  Ark. ; 

Judge  A.  E.  Bamett,  Opelika,  Ala. ;  Prof.    Wm.    Hughes,    Spring   Hill, 

P.  W.  Furry,  Van  Buren,  Ark.;  Tenn.; 

R.  D.  Hart,  Texarkana,  Tex.;  Judge    B.    J.    Casteel,    St    Joseph, 

Judge    F.    A.    Critz,    West    Point,  Mo.; 

Miss. ;  Dr.  J.  W.  Vaughan,  St  Louis,  Mo. ; 

Dr.  S.  C.  Tatum,  Center,  Ala.;  Judge  D.   G.   Grantham,   Carlsbad, 

Judge    A.    G.    Norrell,    Florence,  N.  Mex.; 

Miss.;  J.  P.  Pettyjohn,  Ljmchburg,  Va. 

Directory  of  the  Mission  Bo.\rd,  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.D.,  Baltimore,  Md President 

Bishop  James  Atkins,  D.D.,  Waynesville,  N.  C Vice  President 

Rev.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn Secretary 

Rev.  W.  W.  Pinson,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn Assistant  Secretary 

Rev.  John  R.  Nelson,  Nashville,  Tenn Asst  Sea,  Home  Department 

Rev.  Ed  F.  Cook,  Nashville,  Tenn Secretary  Educational  Department 

J.  D.  Hamilton,  Nashville,  Tenn Treasurer 

(ii) 


NOTE. 

In  producing  this  report  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Confer- 
ence, held  in  Chattanooga  April  21-23,  1908,  it  was  the  earnest 
desire  of  all  the  leaders  of  the  Movement,  and  those  most  nearly 
related  to  the  preparation  of  the  book,  that  it  should  be  a  very 
helpful  campaign  volume.  For  this  reason  it  was  necessary  that 
some  one  should  be  found  who  might  carefully  arrange  and  edit 
the  matter  and  bring  it  out  in  the  best,  most  attractive,  and  useful 
manner.  By  common  consent  Rev.  W.  W.  Pinson,  D.D,,  one  of 
our  Missionary  Secretaries,  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  the 
work,  including  the  preparation  of  the  initial  chapters  and  his- 
torical statement  which  would  properly  introduce  that  which  was 
to  follow,  and  at  the  same  time  give  an  adequate  setting  to  the 
whole.  We  acknowledge  with  pleasure  our  debt  of  obligation  for 
the  valuable  service  thus  rendered  the  Movement. 

John  R.  Pepper,  President; 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
(iii) 


MISSIONARY  STATISTICS,  MAY  21,  1907. 


Men  and  women  employed 14.91S 

Native    helpers 9i>967 

Increase  in  missionaries 1,632 

Increase  in  native  laborers 5r449 

Stations   and  out-stations 31,504 

Increase  in  stations  and  out-stations 8,745 

Schools    27,000 

Pupils 1,231,492 

Communicants    1,640,234 

Increase    24,023 

Professing    Christians 3,564,326 

Added  last  year 129,608 

Total    income 21,719,101 

Increase    3452,853 

These  figures  are  taken  from  the  latest  and  most  reliable  sources  and 
include  the  societies  of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, the  British  Colonies,  and  the  countries  of  Continental  Europe. 

Significant  Facts  fbom  the  Statistics  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  for  1908. 

1.  We  raised  for  all  purposes  $10,829,940. 

2.  The  General  Board  and  the  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
raised  $715,120. 

3.  Of  this  amount,  we  spent  in  the  United  States  $67,857. 

4.  This  left  for  missions  in  foreign  countries  $647,263. 

S-  The  whole  amount  of  missionary  money  expended  in  the  United 
States,  including  Church  Extension,  was  $528,861. 

6.  Of  the  whole  amount  raised  for  all  purposes,  we  expended  for  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  six  per  cent. 

7.  We  contribute  for  our  own  work  at  home  an  average  per  member 
of  $6. 

8.  We  contribute  for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  an  average  per 
member  of  forty-two  cents. 

9.  On  each  of  the  8,000,000  souls  to  whom  we  minister  in  the  United 
States  we  expended  $1.28. 

10.  On  each  of  the  40,000,000  of  heathen  for  whom  we  are  responsible 
we  expended  one  and  a  half  cent. 

11.  The  proportion  was  eighty-five  times  as  much  at  home  as  abroad. 

12.  On  each  one  of  the  six  million  unsaved  of  our  own  population  we 
expended  in  missionary  money  alone  nine  cents. 

13.  On  each  of  the  40,000,000  heathen  for  whom  we  are  responsible  we 
expended  one  and  a  half  cent. 

14.  Those  at  home  had  $10,000,000  already  to  their  credit,  the  heathen 
nothing;  those  at  home  Christian  light  and  civilization,  those  abroad  a 
heathen  environment 

15.  If  it  requires  $10,000,000  annually  to  keep  8,000,000  evangelized,  how 
long  will  it  take  a  little  over  a  half  million  annually  to  evangelize  40,000,- 
000? 

x6.  If  it  is  necessary  to  expend  $528361  missionary  money  on  8,ooo,ooc 
in  a  Christian  land,  is  the  sum  of  $647,263  a  reasonable  response  to  the 
needs  of  40,000,000  in  heathen  lands? 

(iv) 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

Historical  Statement vii 

s  I.  The  Awakening. 

I.  A  Conference  That  Counts 3 

II.  Purposes  and  Plans 13 

III.  Addresses :  Welcome  and  Response 2'j 

Mayor  Crabtree  and  General  Julian  S.  Carr. 

IV.  The   Laymen's    Missionary   Movement — ^Why   and 

How 35 

Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D. 

V.  A  World  Campaign  for  Missions 55 

J.  Campbell  "White. 

VI.  The  One  Great  Mission  of  the  Church 73 

Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson. 

11.  The  Obligation. 
VII.  The  Duty  of  the  Stronger  to  the  Weaker  Races ....     87 

Hon.  James  Bryce. 

VIII.  The  Supreme  Obligation  of  the  Hour lOi 

Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix. 

IX.  The  Challenge  of  the  City 113 

Rev.  Joslah  Strong,  D.D. 

X.  The  Call  to  Go  Forward 131 

Bishop  W.  A.  Candler. 

III.  The  Opportunity. 
XI.  The  Supreme  Opportunity  of  the  Hour 151 

William  T.  Ellis. 

XII.  China :  The  Gibraltar  of  Missions 169 

Rev.  D.  L.  Anderson,  D.D. 

XIII.  Korea :  A  Great  Religious  Awakening 181 

Rev.  J.  L.  Gerdlne. 

(v) 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page 

XIV.  The  Christian  Conquest  of  Japan 191 

Rev.  S.  H.  Wainright,  D.D. 

XV.  Brazil :  A  Bugle  Call  to  Victory 201 

Rev.  B.  A.  Tilly. 

XVI.  Cuba :  On  the  Firing  Line 209 

Rev.  W.  G.  Fletcher. 

XVII.  Medical  Work  in  the  Orient 221 

Dr.  T.  F.  Staley. 

IV.  Mobilizing  the  Forces. 
XVIII.  The  Educational  Movement  in  Missions 231 

Rev.  Ed  F.  Cook. 

XIX.  Protestant  Literature  in  Spanish 241 

Rev.  P.  A.  Rodriguez. 

XX.  The  Work  of  the  Conference  Lay  Leader 247 

Thomas  B.  King. 

XXI.  The  Work  of  the  District  Lay  Leader 255 

A.  Trieschmann. 

XXIL  Work  of  a  Lay  Leader  in  the  Congregation 263 

Li.  M.  Pennington. 

Appendix    271 


HISTORICAL  STATEMENT. 

The  history  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  is  an  in- 
spiring chapter  in  the  progress  of  the  kingdom.  It  began,  Hke 
many  another  great  movement,  in  a  prayer  meeting;  and  yet 
the  Spirit  was  moving  on  a  wider  scale  than  that  one  meet- 
ing. Once  the  few  men  who  were  gathered  there  had  de- 
clared their  mind  and  purpose,  it  was  discovered  that  far  and  wide 
there  was  a  quick  and  hearty  response  that  indicated  the  unformu- 
lated presence  of  the  same  impulse  among  the  laymen  of  all  sec- 
tions and  of  all  denominations.  Sooner  than  any  one  dreamed  the 
whole  Church  was  alive  with  the  stir  and  bustle  of  expectation  and 
preparation.  Almost  suddenly  the  pillar  of  cloud  had  lifted,  and 
the  signal  for  advance  had  flashed  along  the  line.  There  was  the 
feeling  everywhere  that  the  hour  had  struck  for  an  unusual  for- 
ward movement.  Laymen  who  had  shown  little  interest  in  foreign 
missions  and  only  a  moderate  devotion  to  the  Church  awoke  to 
the  realization  that  something  worth  their  while  was  going  on. 
They  found  themselves  appealed  to  by  a  cause  greater  than  ever 
stirred  the  blood  of  a  mere  king  of  finance,  and  more  noble  than 
ever  drenched  earth's  battlefields  with  the  blood  of  heroes. 

A  movement  must  be  harnessed  to  make  it  permanently  useful. 
Like  any  other  force,  it  must  be  delivered  upon  machinery  in 
order  to  practical  results.  In  order  that  this  movement  might  not 
waste  itself  in  mere  enthusiasm,  it  was  necessary  for  it  to  find  or 
form  a  channel  for  itself.  Wisely  it  was  thought  by  the  leaders 
that  the  Churches  did  not  need  a  new  organization,  but  rather  a 
broader  vision  and  a  quickened  conscience  in  the  organizations 
already  existing.  The  laymen  at  the  head  of  this  movement  there- 
fore disclaimed  the  intention  of  adding  a  new  society  and  declared 
it  to  be  their  purpose  to  arouse  the  laymen  of  all  Churches  to  a 
sense  of  duty  to  the  heathen,  and  set  about  devising  ways  and 
means  of  evangelizing  the  whole  world  in  this  generation.  To  this 
great  purpose  the  laymen  of  all  Churches  were  entreated  to  rally 
under  the  existing  organizations  of  their  own  denominations.  The 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  did  not  go  forth  as  a  society 
seeking  members,  but  as  an  advocate  of  a  great  cause.  It  came 
as  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness  of  commerce  and  politics  and 
secular  toil  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand. 

(vii) 


viu  historical  statement. 

The  Movement  Defined. 

1.  The  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  is  a  lineal  descendant 
of  the  famous  haystack  prayer  meeting.  It  was  born  in  a  mission- 
ary prayer  service,  and  was  suggested  by  the  indifference  of  lay- 
men to  foreign  missions. 

2.  Its  aim  is  missionary  and  not  general,  except  as  it  stands  for 
the  most  universal  and  all-embracing  idea  of  Christian  service. 
Since  the  modern  Church  is  seeking  to  banish  the  artificial  words 
"home"  and  "foreign"  from  the  vocabulary  of  missions,  this  Move- 
ment embraces  our  own  as  well  as  all  other  lands. 

3.  It  is  more  a  movement  than  an  organization,  and  its  methods 
are  educational  and  inspirational  rather  than  administrative.  It 
does  not  so  much  aim  to  add  machinery  as  to  generate  power  and 
accelerate  motion. 

4.  It  does  not  aim  to  supplant  or  absorb  other  organizations,  but 
to  work  with  and  through  them.  It  has  no  excuse  for  existence 
for  its  own  sake  and  has  no  ends  to  carry  on  its  own  account ;  but 
exists  to  aid  the  Churches  and  Boards  in  carrying  out  the  Great 
Commission.  In  this  it  is  analogous  to  the  Student  Volunteer  and 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movements.  They  stand  in  sympa- 
thetic and  cooperative  relation  to  all  forms  of  young  people's  or- 
ganizations for  missionary  agitation,  yet  remain  distinct.  This 
Movement  holds  a  like  relation  to  all  laymen's  denominational  and 
local  organizations.  Whether  the  general  awakening  among  lay- 
men is  cause,  consequence,  or  coincidence  of  this  Movement  does 
not  alter  the  fact  of  its  distinctness  and  singularity  of  purpose. 

5.  It  can  accomplish  its  great  work  only  by  adhering  to  its  provi- 
dential task  and  maintaining  its  integrity  as  a  missionary  move- 
ment. Since  students,  young  people,  and  women  have  furnished  a 
fruitful  and  growing  constituency  for  this  same  great  aim,  as  was 
to  be  expected,  the  laymen  are  not  proving  an  exception. 

6.  It  is  interdenominational,  and  owes  much  of  its  power  to  in- 
spire and  its  strength  of  appeal  to  this  fact.  This  gives  it  scope, 
catholicity,  and  the  inspiration  of  numbers,  and  puts  it  in  line  with 
the  broader  views  of  the  laymen  of  our  time. 

7.  The  movements  that  are  making  and  circulating  an  inspiring 
and  enlightening  literature  and  commanding  an  enthusiastic  fol- 
lowing of  vast  numbers  are  broadly  catholic  and  stand  for  one 
great  idea  and  aim.  This  is  emphatically  true  of  missions.  No  sin- 
gle denomination,  no  organization  with  a  variety  of  objects  could 


HISTORICAL   STATEMENT.  IX 

even  hope  to  approach  in  these  respects  the  Student  Volunteer  and 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movements,  and,  in  possibility  for 
such  achievements,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement. 

It  remained  for  the  laymen  of  each  denomination  to  harness  this 
Movement  within  their  denominational  machinery.  Accordingly 
at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  May,  1907,  a  paper  was  offered  by 
a  committee  consisting  of  E,  R.  Hendrix,  J.  B.  Greene,  and  A.  F. 
Watkins,  which  had  been  appointed  to  report  on  the  subject.  This 
paper,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  is  as  follows : 

"We  look  with  favor  upon  the  inauguration  of  this  movement 
among  the  laymen  of  the  Church,  and  recommend  that  our  Mis- 
sionary Secretaries  be  instructed  to  arrange  for  a  Laymen's  Mis- 
sionary Convention,  to  be  held  next  winter  in  some  centrally  lo- 
cated city.  We  recommend  also  that  the  Secretaries  be  authorized 
to  make  arrangements  for  a  conference,  in  the  near  future,  of  about 
fifty  influential  laymen,  to  consider  plans  for  the  promotion  of  the 
work  among  our  laymen  and  to  organize  a  Laymen's  Committee, 
which,  together  with  the  Secretaries,  shall  make  preparation  for 
the  Laymen's  Convention." 

Following  this  instruction,  a  few  leading  laymen  met  in  Nash- 
ville at  the  call  of  the  Secretaries  on  August  7,  1907,  and  effected 
a  temporary  organization  preliminary  to  the  meeting  of  fifty  as 
suggested  above,  and  laid  out  plans  for  that  meeting.  Mr.  John 
R.  Pepper,  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  was  chosen  Chairman,  and  Mr. 

C.  H.  Ireland,  Greensboro,  N.  C,  Secretary.  A  committee  of 
five  was  appointed  to  arrange  for  the  meeting  of  fifty,  consisting 
of  John  R.  Pepper,  C.  H.  Ireland,  Thomas  S.  Weaver,  John  R. 
Nelson,  and  W.  W.  Pinson.  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  was  selected  as 
the  place  of  meeting.  A  General  Committee  was  chosen,  consist- 
ing of  John  R.  Pepper,  C.  H.  Ireland,  T.  S.  Weaver,  W.  M.  Sloan, 
F.  A.  Critz,  T.  T.  Fishburne,  E.  P.  Peabody,  A.  D.  Reynolds,  J.  B. 
Greene,  H.  N.  Snyder,  John  P.  Pettijohn,  J.  H.  Hinamon,  G. 

D.  Shands,  A.  E.  Bonnell,  and  J.  C.  Hindman. 

The  meeting  of  hfty  was  held  as  arranged  on  September  17,  18, 
1907,  at  Knoxville,  Tenn.  Fifty-three  leading  laymen  represent- 
ing almost  the  entire  territory  of  the  Church  came  together,  and 
in  a  meeting  characterized  by  great  zeal  and  earnestness  dis- 
cussed the  Movement  and  devised  plans  for  its  further  organiza- 
tion and  for  the  gathering  of  a  great  Conference  of  laymen  later. 


X  HISTOillCAL   STATEMENT. 

Mr.  John  R.  Pepper  presided.  Addresses  were  delivered  by 
Hon.  T.  B.  King,  of  Memphis,  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  Mr,  J. 
Campbell  White,  of  New  York,  General  Secretary  of  the  Move- 
ment, C.  H.  Ireland,  Bishop  E.  E.  Hoss,  H.  W.  Baker,  Havana, 
Cuba,  Bishop  W.  A.  Candler,  and  others.  The  officers  elected 
were :  John  R.  Pepper,  of  Memphis,  Tenn.,  President ;  C.  H.  Ire- 
land, Greensboro,  N.  C,  Vice  President;  G.  W.  Cain,  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  Secretary;  and  F.  M.  Daniel,  Mammoth  Springs,  Ark., 
Treasurer.  These  officers,  together  with  D.  H.  Abernathy,  Jul- 
ian S.  Carr,  and  W.  G.  M.  Thomas,  were  made  the  Executive 
Committee.  The  suggestion  made  in  the  opening  address  of 
Chairman  Pepper  that  there  should  be  ten  thousand  laymen  in 
our  Church  willing  to  enroll  themselves  as  "emergency  men," 
pledged  to  give  financial  aid  to  the  emergencies  that  might  arise 
from  time  to  time  in  the  progress  of  the  Church,  met  with  an 
enthusiastic  reception.  A  spontaneous,  not  to  say  hilarious  be- 
ginning was  made  on  the  spot.  Gen.  Julian  S.  Carr,  of  North 
Carolina,  in  an  eloquent  speech  put  his  State  at  the  head  of  the 
volunteer  column  by  offering  to  pledge  five  thousand  dollars  to 
the  emergency  fund.    Others  followed  in  like  tenor. 

The  following  "Call"  was  issued  to  be  sent  to  the  laymen  of  the 
whole  Church : 

A  Call  to  the  Laymen. 

Less  than  one  year  ago  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  had 
its  beginning  in  a  prayer  meeting  in  New  York  City.  It  has  al- 
ready become  not  only  interdenominational  but  international  in 
extent.  Its  growth  has  heartened  the  Church,  cheered  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  awakened  the  laymen.  It  is  spreading  missionary 
intelligence,  gathering  missionary  facts,  and  swelling  the  mission- 
ary income.  It  is  harnessing  the  hitherto  unused  resources  of  the 
laity  and  transforming  duty  into  enthusiasm.  It  proceeds  on  the 
assumption  that  the  obligation  of  the  Church  is  the  duty  of  the 
whole  membership ;  hence  the  great  command  is  not  only  for  those 
who  go  to  the  front,  but  equally  for  those  who  tarry  by  the  stuff. 

Already  the  Movement  has  invaded  one  denomination  after  an- 
other, and  is  taking  its  place  in  the  forefront  of  denominational 
forces.  It  is  not  a  society,  nor  a  brotherhood,  nor  an  independent 
movement,  but  a  movement  within  established  ecclesiastical  lim- 
its.   It  is  not  meant  to  form  new  missions  nor  send  out  missiona- 


HISTORICAL   STATEMENT.  XI 

ries,  nor  in  any  way  act  independently  of  mission  boards,  but  to 
arouse  the  laymen  and  bring  to  their  consciences  the  duty  and  to 
their  hearts  the  joy  of  sharing  in  the  great  work  the  Churches  are 
doing  for  a  lost  world. 

The  women,  the  children,  and  the  young  people  have  found  their 
place  in  the  missionary  ranks,  but  hitherto  the  men  who  run  the 
world's  business  and  hold  the  world's  purse  strings  have  had  but 
little  interest  in  missions.  The  time  has  come  and  the  call  has 
gone  forth  for  the  men  to  arouse  themselves  to  action. 

The  student  volunteers  from  the  colleges  and  universities  have 
sounded  a  trumpet  call  to  their  fathers  and  brothers  to  furnish  the 
sinews  of  war  while  they  go  to  the  front.  The  first  of  the  student 
volunteers,  Samuel  J.  Mills,  said  at  the  famous  Haystack  Prayer 
Meeting,  in  1806:  "We  can  do  it  if  we  will."  Samuel  B.Capen, first 
President  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  said  in  1906: 
"We  can  do  it,  and  we  will."  It  is  for  the  laymen  of  Southern 
Methodism  to  help  make  good  this  inspiring  challenge  of  the  twen- 
tieth century. 

The  coming  of  more  than  a  million  of  foreigners  to  our  shores 
annually,  many  of  whom  are  turning  their  steps  to  our  Southland, 
the  commercial  conditions  which  are  drawing  large  numbers  of 
people  together  in  mining  and  manufacturing  districts,  the  rapid 
drift  of  the  rural  population  to  the  cities,  constitute  problems  that 
demand  immediate,  wise,  and  liberal  treatment.  And  since  the 
gospel  of  Christ  is  the  only  answer  to  the  unrest  of  the  times  and 
the  only  solution  for  the  vexing  problems,  of  our  complex  civiliza- 
tion, the  Church  must  not  be  found  wanting  in  the  face  of  these 
conditions. 

The  amazing  transition  in  heathen  and  Roman  Catholic  lands, 
the  turning  to  the  West  for  light,  the  decay  of  ancient  religions,  the 
pathetic  drift  from  the  moorings  of  ages,  and  the  search  for  some 
anchor  for  faith,  constitute  a  challenge  to  the  Church  which  she 
cannot  deny  and  be  true  to  her  commission.  Before  our  own 
Church  lie  white  harvests  of  opportunity  such  as  never  confronted 
us  before,  and  our  missionaries  stand  at  open  doors  and  plead  in 
vain  for  the  means  and  equipment  to  enter  them.  In  order  that  the 
nine  hundred  millions  of  unevangelized  heathen  may  be  reached 
in  this  generation,  it  is  estimated  that  our  Church  must  send  the 
gospel  to  forty  millions.  This  is  a  task  that  calls  for  the  business 
intelligence,  united  prayers,  and  combined  resources  of  our  lay- 


Xll  HISTORICAL   STATEMENT. 

men.  To  slight  this  obUgation  and  allow  the  hearts  of  our  mis- 
sionaries to  break  while  we  live  in  luxury  and  lay  up  for  ourselves 
treasures  on  earth  is  to  live  under  condemnation  and  die  in  dis- 
grace. 

There  are  at  least  five  hundred  thousand  laymen  in  our  Church. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  very  few  of  these  contribute  regularly  to  mis- 
sions ;  hence  this  cause  is  not  receiving  even  a  fraction  of  its  legiti- 
mate share  of  the  thought,  prayer,  and  growing  wealth  of  our 
laymen.  This  is  an  age  of  great  enterprises  and  of  great  wealth, 
and  in  no  section  is  this  more  emphatically  true  than  in  the  South. 
Providence  never  misad justs  its  movements.  When  the  doors  of 
heathenism  are  thrown  wide  open,  the  Church  is  providentially 
equipped  to  enter. 

It  was  Maxwell,  a  Methodist  layman,  who  opened  the  eyes  of 
Mr.  Wesley  to  the  power  of  the  laity,  and  Methodism  owes  much 
of  her  success  to  this  discovery.  That  noble  layman  of  England, 
Mr.  Perks,  in  his  recent  visit  to  our  country,  startled  us  with  the 
statement  that  over  four-fifths  of  the  sermons  preached  in  Metho- 
dist pulpits  in  England  on  a  given  Sunday  were  preached  by  unor- 
dained  men.  Methodist  laymen  of  America  must  show  themselves 
true  to  the  traditions  of  their  Church  and  prove  themselves  worthy 
of  their  fathers. 

We,  therefore,  call  upon  our  fellow-laymen  to  keep  pace  with 
the  laymen  of  other  Churches,  and  follow  the  brave  prophetic 
souls  who  are  pressing  the  battle  for  the  world's  evangelization  in 
this  generation.  Let  us  join  the  lengthening  ranks  of  this  modern 
movement  for  "A  Campaign  of  Education,"  "A  Plan  for  Evangeli- 
zation," and  a  thorough  "Investigation  of  the  Fields"  from  the 
layman's  standpoint.  The  South's  peerless  soldier,  Robert  E.  Lee, 
said  truly  in  a  letter  to  his  son :  "  'Duty'  is  the  sublimest  word  in  any 
language."  Shall  soldiers  of  the  great  Leader  of  Galilee  think  to 
do  less  than  their  duty?  It  is  his  to  command  and  ours  to  obey. 
Our  duty  is  measured  by  our  capacity.  What  we  can  do,  we  ought 
to  do.  Let  us  line  up  for  great  things  under  the  motto :  "Do  Your 
Best,  and  Do  It  Now." 

The  time  and  place  of  holding  the  Greater  Laymen's  Conference 
were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  Committee,  as  were  also  the 
programme  and  other  arrangements. 

The  work  of  organizing  and  arousing  the  laymen  of  the  Church 
was  pushed  forward  successfully  during  the  preparations  for  the 


CHATTANOOGA    COMMITTEE    ON    A  RK  ANGEMENTS. 

T.   O.   TROTTER.  CREED   F.    BATES. 

I..    F.   FOUST,   CHAIRMAN. 

J.    N.   TRIGG.  K.    F.    FKITTS. 


HISTORICAL  STATEMENT.  XUl 

great  Conference.  At  the  fall  sessions  of  the  Annual  Conferences 
the  laymen  met  and  organized  for  an  active  campaign.  Every- 
where the  Movement  met  with  a  reception  that  gave  abundant 
promise  of  the  great  results  already  realized. 

The  Executive  Committee  selected  Chattanooga  as  the  place 
most  suitable  for  holding  the  great  Conference,  and  April  21-23, 
1908,  as  the  time.  This  meeting  is  now  a  matter  of  history,  the 
larger  part  of  which  is  contained  in  this  volume,  as  far  as  the 
mere  facts  can  be  printed.  But  the  larger,  nobler,  and  by  far 
truer  history  will  never  be  written.  It  is  recorded  in  the  indelible 
characters  of  quickened  lives,  broadened  visions,  intensified  devo- 
tion, enlarged  liberality,  and  the  deep,  steady,  ever-widening  im- 
pulse that  stirs  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  our  laymen. 

The  Conference  was  preceded  by  much  prayer.  A  Prayer  Cal- 
endar was  sent  out,  and  it  was  known  that  a  multitude  through- 
out the  Church  were  lifting  up  their  hearts  in  prayer  for  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  the  occasion.  The  two  days  preceding  the 
Convention  were  days  of  prayer.  At  noon  each  day  a  large  body 
of  men  gathered  to  pray  for  the  Conference  about  to  convene. 
From  the  first  hour  it  was  manifest  these  prayers  were  answered.' 
During  the  Conference  the  noon  hour  was  observed  as  a  time  of 
heart  searching  and  earnest  prayer. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  provided  an  excursion  up  the 
beautiful  Tennessee  River  by  steamer,  which  was  free  to  the 
delegates  and  greatly  enjoyed  by  them.  This  was  one  of  number- 
less courtesies  by  the  citizens  of  Chattanooga. 

Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  the  local  committees  of  Chat- 
tanooga, whose  names  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  for  their 
wise  and  untiring  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Conference.  Much  of 
the  success  of  the  meeting  was  due  to  their  work.  Their  thor- 
ough organization  and  businesslike  methods  left  nothing  to  be  de- 
sired. Their  liberal  provisions  for  the  Conference,  made  possible. 
by  the  generosity  of  the  citizens,  will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  The 
Reception  Committee  brought  the  whole  Conference  under  obli- 
gations. Mr.  W.  T.  Ellis  paid  them  this  high  compliment :  "May 
I  add,  on  behalf  of  those  of  us  who  were  so  favored  as  to  be  guests 
of  the  Convention,  that  the  Convention  Committee  and  the  city 
of  Chattanooga  created  a  new  definition  of  convention  hospitality? 
I  think  that  all  of  us,  from  the  Ambassador  down  to  myself,  are 
henceforth  'yours  to  command.'  " 


THE  CALL  OF  GOD  TO  MEN. 


OUR  MISSIONARY  CONFESSION. 

1.  The  world  is  our  parish. 

2.  It  is  the  mission  of  the  whole  Church  to  give  the  gospel  to 
the  whole  world. 

3.  "We  desire  a  league,  offensive  and  defensive,"  with  all  who 
are  striving  to  fulfill  this  mission. 

4.  Our  entire  Church  is  a  missionary  society,  and  each  mem- 
ber is  under  pledge,  as  well  as  under  command,  to  help  give  the 
gospel  to  every  creature. 

5.  It  is  as  much  the  duty  of  every  member  to  help  to  support  a 
parish  abroad  as  a  parish  at  home. 

6.  Our  giving  should  be  an  act  of  worship  (Prov.  iii.  9),  cheer- 
ful (2  Cor.  ix.  7),  and  according  to  the  rule  of  three  (i  Cor. 
xvi.  2)  : 

INDIVIDUALLY  "Let  every  one  of  you 

SYSTEMATICALLY       ^^^  ^^  ^'"^  *"  ^^°'^  °''  ^^^ 

First  day  of  the  week 
PROPORTIONATELY    As  God  hath  prospered  him." 
(xvi) 


I. 

THE  AWAKENING. 


I.  A  CONFERENCE  THAT  COUNTS. 

II.  Purposes  and  Plans. 

III.  Welcome  and  Response. 

IV.  The  Plan,  Purpose,  and  Need. 
v.  A  World  Campaign  for  Missions. 

iVI.  The  One  Great  Mission  of  the  Church. 

(I) 


I  hope  it  will  hurt  no  speaker's  sensibilities  if  I  register  as  my  outstand- 
ing "impression"  of  the  Convention  the  conviction  that  the  gathering  was 
so  great  in  itself  that  the  personality  of  the  delegates  completely  over- 
mastered every  utterance  from  the  platform.  Those  strong,  genial,  level- 
headed, purposeful  men  so  filled  my  thought  that  I  am  still  talking  about 
them  on  every  occasion.  They  are  what  made  the  Convention  great; 
they  are  of  the  men  who  have  made  the  New  South;  they  are  the  men 
who  will  make  new  and  adequate  the  missionary  enterprise  of  Southern 
Methodism. — William  T.  Ellis,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

It  was  a  great  Missionary  Conference  because  of  the  splendid  prepara- 
tion covering  several  months;  for  the  emphasis  laid  upon  prayer  before 
the  gathering;  for  the  large  number  of  splendid  representative  men  from 
all  over  the  South;  for  their  enthusiasm;  for  their  vision  of  what  they 
ought  to  do;  for  their  faith  in  what  the  blessing  of  God  would  do;  for 
their  plan  to  reach  every  man  in  the  whole  Church  with  a  message  of  his 
personal  obligation;  for  the  setting  up  of  the  machinery  to*  do  this  and 
providing  the  funds.  It  was  a  serious  hour  and  great  with  future  possi- 
bilities.— Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

(2). 


I. 

A  CONFERENCE  THAT  COUNTS. 

The  Laymen's  Missionary  Conference  at  Chattanooga  is  now  a 
matter  of  history.  A  thousand  laymen,  of  the  best  and  brainiest  of 
the  South  and  West,  took  counsel  together.  The  programme 
of  two  full  days  was  carried  through  without  a  break.  Every 
speaker,  from  Ambassador  Bryce  on  Tuesday  evening,  April  21, 
to  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix  on  Thursday  evening,  April  23,  was 
present  ready  to  take  his  place  on  the  programme.  The  themes 
covered  the  salient  phases  of  mission  work  abroad  and  at  home, 
and  rarely  has  such  an  array  of  splendid  addresses  ever  been  ut- 
tered on  any  American  platform. 

The  spirit  of  the  Conference  was  up  to  a  high  level.  The  whole 
tone  of  it  was  earnest  and  reverent.  The  atmosphere  was  athrill 
with  high  purpose.  There  was  no  lightness  nor  anything  to  indi- 
cate a  want  of  the  deepest  seriousness,  and  through  the  whole  oc- 
casion vibrated  the  spirit  of  prayer  and  religious  joy.  No  one 
could  fail  to  feel  that  these  men,  gathered  from  the  four  quarters 
of  the  land  and  from  all  the  walks  of  life,  were  dominated  by  one 
high  and  ennobling  purpose.  One  could  not  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  fact  that  those  sentiments  most  earnestly  and  unanimously  ap- 
plauded were  those  most  nobly  altruistic  and  most  broadly  and 
truly  Christian.  Nothing  trifling  or  narrow  or  sectional  or  un- 
brotherly  could  have  found  welcome.  And  when  the  reports  which 
expressed  the  consensus  of  the  body  were  adopted,  they  were  in 
keeping  with  this  lofty  spirit.  The  plans  emanating  from  this  gath- 
ering are  prophetic  of  the  mightiest  advance  in  missions  our  great 
Church  has  ever  known.  They  ring  clear  and  strong  a  challenge 
to  the  faith  and  consecration  of  the  Church  that  ought  to  stir  the 
heart  of  the  most  apathetic. 

Let  one  only  think  a  moment  of  the  character  and  ability  of 
these  thousand  men,  the  Christian  chivalry  of  the  Southland,  the 
sons  and  grandsons  of  men  who  did  deeds  about  Chattanooga  in 
the  sixties  to  make  the  pages  of  history  glow,  and  who  themselves 

(3) 


4  THE  AWAKENINa 

have  done  and  are  doing  things  in  all  the  lines  of  noble  achieve- 
ment wortliy  of  their  fathers  and  of  their  country.  Such  a  body, 
composed  of  men  who  direct  the  affairs  of  commerce  and  govern- 
ment, whose  counsels  any  cause  would  covet,  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
Christ  to  receive  anew  the  Great  Commission  and  to  put  their  abili- 
ties at  the  command  of  the  Church,  is  a  scene  as  inspiring  as  it  is 
unusual.  When  their  counsels  have  resulted  in  a  well-defined  plan 
of  campaign  for  missionary  effort  for  the  500,000  laymen  of  whom 
they  form  the  advance  guard,  no  mind  can  calculate  the  greatness 
of  the  outcome.  They  form  the  reserve  corps  of  that  "far-flung 
battle  line"  on  whose  ranks  the  sun  never  sets.  If,  as  Phillips 
Brooks  said,  "the  heroic  in  a  cause  is  measured  by  the  ideality, 
magnanimity,  and  the  bravery  of  that  cause,"  then  no  men  ever 
met  in  a  cause  representing  such  heroism  as  that  which  brought 
these  men  together.  This  missionary  army  has  set  before  it  a  task 
no  less  than  the  saving  of  a  lost  world,  a  motive  no  meaner  than 
the  love  of  God  and  man,  a  spirit  to  give  and  to  toil  without  the 
hope  of  earthly  recompense.  The  sharer  of  the  vision  and  spirit 
of  the  missionary  is  a  sharer  of  his  heroism.  These  men  gathered 
to  clasp  hands  with  the  missionaries  in  a  fellowship  of  service  and 
to  pledge  the  thought  and  energy  that  make  the  age  splendid  with 
material  enterprises  to  the  greater  enterprise  of  a  world's  enlight- 
enment. That  pledge  will  thrill  the  hearts  of  the  missionaries  with 
the  assurance  that  the  commissary  department  shall  not  fail,  nor 
the  equipment  for  the  campaign  be  wanting. 

Such  a  purpose  pitches  the  psalm  of  life  to  a  high  key.  It  glori- 
fies toil  with  the  splendor  of  a  high  ideal  and  transfigures  the 
drudgery  of  business  with  the  beauty  of  a  sublime  motive.  It  sets 
the  hammers  of  industry  ringing  a  jubilate  and  the  machinery 
humming  in  harmony  with  the  angels'  song  of  peace.  It  gives  to 
the  countinghouse  a  new  sacredness  and  to  money  the  stamp  of  a 
new  value.  The  money  made  and  managed  for  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions may  be  fitly  inscribed,  "In  God  We  Trust,"  although  it  needs 
no  such  sign  of  its  untainted  worthiness.  No  more  do  these  men 
need  the  touch  of  ecclesiastical  hands  to  set  them  apart  to  sacred 
service.  The  hand  of  God  has  been  laid  upon  them.  The  call  of 
Providence  is  in  their  ears  and  a  strange,  sweet  impulse  in  their 
hearts.  The  nations  stretching  out  their  hands,  shackled  with  su- 
perstition, have  called  not  in  vain,  and  these,  God's  freemen,  make 
haste  to  set  them  free  also. 


A   CONFERENCE  THAT  COUNTS.  5 

No  longer  is  the  cause  of  missions  relegated  to  the  category  of 
sentimentalism.  It  is  no  longer  the  theme  of  visionaries  and  reli- 
gious enthusiasts.  It  has  got  itself  mixed  up  with  the  practical, 
doable,  rational  matters  of  the  men  of  affairs.  Statesmen,  diplo- 
mats, kings  of  commerce,  literary  men,  the  men  who  build  rail- 
roads, develop  mines,  dig  canals,  and  guide  nations,  are  found 
planning,  writing,  speaking,  giving,  praying  for  missions.  It  is 
a  far  cry  to  the  time  when  William  Carey,  the  consecrated  cob- 
bler, was  not  able  to  get  himself  heard  on  the  subject.  A  hun- 
dred years,  fruitful  with  missionary  achievements,  have  passed 
since  Samuel  J.  Mills  made  the  Haystack  Prayer  Meeting  famous 
with  the  declaration :  "We  can  do  it  if  we  will."  We  enter  upon 
a  new  century  with  an  aroused  laity  whose  motto  is :  "We  can  do 
it  and  we  will."  Surely  we  have  seen  the  tokens  of  a  mighty 
change  and  the  sure  pledge  of  greater  changes  yet  to  be. 

"Through  the  harsh  noises  of  our  day 
A  low,  sweet  prelude  finds  its  way; 
Through  clouds  of  doubt  and  nights  of  fear 
A  light  is  breaking  calm  and  clear. 

That  song  of  love,  now  low  and  far. 
Ere  long  shall  swell  from  star  to  star 
That  light  the  dawning  day  which  tips 
The  Golden-Spired  Apocalypse." 

It  has  been  said  that  England  conquered  half  the  world  in  a  fit 
of  absent-mindedness.  These  men  are  not  facing  the  great  under- 
taking of  the  world's  evangelization  in  any  absent-minded  mood. 
They  are  animated  by  a  definite  purpose,  which  they  are  following 
with  clear-sighted  vision  and  alert  intelligence. 

The  plan  of  organization  adopted  is  not  cumbersome  nor  com- 
plicated. It  is  neither  hampered  by  constitution  nor  distressed  with 
by-laws.  Recognizing  this  uprising  as  more  a  movement  than  an 
organization,  as  more  the  furnishing  of  new  force  than  the  access 
of  new  machinery,  they  set  about  simply  and  efficiently  harnessing 
it  and  giving  it  articulate  connection  with  existing  machinery.  A 
glance  at  the  "Plan"  will  convince  any  one  that  this  has  been  suc- 
cessfully done  without  displacing  a  cog  or  adding  an  ounce  to  the 
weight  of  the  machine.  They  have  wisely  planned  to  deliver  this 
new  force  on  the  common  task  through  our  splendid  polity,  and  to 


6  THE  AWAKENING. 

mobilize  this  reenforcement.  No  polity  except  our  own  could  pos- 
sibly have  lent  itself  so  easily  to  such  a  movement  without  friction 
or  danger  to  any  existing  office  or  institution. 

The  laymen  have  accepted  the  challenge  of  the  Student  Volun- 
teers for  the  evangelization  of  tlie  world  in  this  generation,  and 
have  gone  farther,  for  they  have  counted  the  cost,  surveyed  the 
task,  and  set  the  machinery  in  motion  for  its  accomplishment.  The 
Methodist  laymen  of  the  South  have  lined  up  with  the  other  forces 
of  Christendom  and  accepted  as  their  proportion  of  the  common 
responsibility  the  evangelization  of  40,000,000  of  people  in  the  six 
fields  in  which  our  Church  is  represented.  On  the  basis  that  has 
been  widely  agreed  upon,  they  estimate  that  the  cost  of  this  enter- 
prise will  be  three  million  dollars  a  year  to  sustain  and  equip  the 
sixteen  hundred  missionaries  necessary  to  do  the  work.  They 
unanimously  resolve  to  make  this  their  aim  and  call  upon  the  whole 
Church  to  join  them  in  the  purpose  to  reach  it.  This  they  declare 
is  neither  an  unreasonable  nor  an  impracticable  task  when  our 
wealth  and  providential  opportunity  are  considered.  Realizing 
that  to  quadruple  our  present  income  for  foreign  missions  is  not 
the  work  of  a  day,  they  set  before  themselves  the  task  of  increasing 
the  offerings  to  the  foreign  boards  to  $1,000,000  the  coming  year. 
Thus  they  have  shown  a  commendable  courage,  sagacity,  and  mod- 
eration. 

To  meet  special  emergencies  that  may  arise  from  time  to  time 
incident  to  the  opening  of  new  fields  and  the  progress  of  the  work, 
they  resolved  to  form  an  Emergency  Corps.  This  is  to  be  a  body 
of  volunteers  who  pledge  themselves  as  minutemen  to  respond, 
with  such  a  sum  as  may  by  each  one  be  indicated  in  his  pledge,  to 
any  reasonable  call  for  funds  to  meet  the  demands  of  an  emergen- 
cy when  it  has  been  recommeded  by  the  Executive  Committee. 
This  is  to  enable  the  Boards  to  advance  wherever  and  whenever 
Providence  may  open  the  way,  and  it  will  save  many  a  strategic 
opening,  such  as  is  now  lost  for  lack  of  funds  to  meet  it. 

An  intelligent  and  well-digested  campaign  of  education  was 
projected.  This  is  so  planned  as  to  make  possible  the  enlighten- 
ment and  enlistment  of  the  whole  Church,  and  is  based  on  the  wise 
hypothesis  that  all  inspiration  is  based  on  information.  It  indi- 
cates fixed  and  patient  determination  to  carry  tlie  situation  by  siege 
rather  than  by  assault. 

The  presence  of  a  great  mmiber  of  physicians  was  providential. 


A   CONFERENCE  THAT   COUNTS.  7 

and  it  was  an  inspiration  of  incalculable  meaning  that  brought 
about  the  inauguration  of  the  Medical  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.  This  society  will  enlist  the 
thousands  of  doctors  of  our  Church  in  the  study  and  furtherance 
of  our  medical  work  in  foreign  fields  and  in  hospitals  also  at  home. 
Thus  they  will  be  put  in  touch  with  that  branch  of  service  in  which 
they  are  most  interested. 

The  text  of  important  papers  adopted  will  be  found  in  the  next 
chapter  of  this  volume.  These  should  be  read.  The  addresses 
represent  the  views  of  the  speakers;  these  papers  represent  the 
consensus  of  the  great  body  of  laymen  themselves.  No  one  who 
reads  them  can  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  breadth  of  vision,  the 
optimism,  faith,  and  courage  they  indicate;  nor  will  he  wonder 
that  one  widely  familiar  with  the  field  and  highly  connected  with 
the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  of  the  world  said  of  this  Con- 
ference :  "You  have  sounded  a  note  that  will  ring  high  and  clear 
all  over  this  land,  and  the  action  of  this  body  will  be  a  stirring  ex- 
ample to  other  bodies." 

That  we  might  b»  able  to  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us,  we  have 
gathered  a  few  of  the  many  expressions  of  those  who  saw  the  Con- 
ference from  various  angles  and  whose  judgment  is  to  be  valued. 

Mr.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D.,  Boston,  Mass.,  Chairman  of  the 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  whose  address  before  the  Con- 
ference made  a  most  profound  impression,  says :  "It  was  a  great 
Missionary  Conference  because  of  the  splendid  preparation  cov- 
ering several  months;  for  the  emphasis  laid  upon  prayer  before 
the  gathering;  for  the  large  number  of  splendid  representative 
men  from  all  over  the  South ;  for  their  enthusiasm ;  for  their  vision 
of  what  they  ought  to  do ;  for  their  faith  in  what  with  the  blessing 
of  God  they  would  do ;  for  their  plan  to  reach  every  man  in  the 
whole  Church  with  a  message  of  his  personal  obligation ;  for  the 
setting  up  of  the  machinery  to  do  this  and  providing  the  funds. 
It  was  a  serious  hour  and  great  with  future  possibilities." 

Mr.  J.  Campbell  White,  of  New  York,  General  Secretary  of  the 
Movement,  who  spoke  a  message  of  great  power,  declares :  "The 
Chattanooga  meeting  was  the  greatest  Men's  Missionary  Conven- 
tion ever  yet  held  in  the  South,  and  one  of  the  greatest  ever  held 
anywhere.  Its  deliberate  action  puts  the  whole  Methodist  Church, 
South,  abreast  of  the  most  progressive  denominations  in  their  ef- 
fort to  evangelize  their  fair  share  of  the  world  field  in  this  genera- 


8  THE   AWAKENINa 

tion.  The  raising  of  $15,000  on  the  spot  to  provide  working  ex- 
penses for  the  Movement  for  two  years  was  eminently  wise  and 
businesshke.  In  the  carrying  out  of  the  poHcy  adopted  thousands 
of  capable  lay  leaders  will  probably  be  discovered  and  developed. 
Every  department  of  the  Church's  activities  will  be  quickened. 
And  the  effort  to  evangelize  forty  millions  of  non-Christians 
abroad  will  be  the  means  of  the  largest  possible  expansion  and 
usefulness  of  the  Church  in  America." 

Mr.  William  T.  Ellis,  of  Philadelphia,  the  missionary  of  the 
secular  press,  a  widely  read  and  much-quoted  man  of  the  day, 
writes :  "I  hope  it  will  hurt  no  speaker's  sensibilities  if  I  register 
as  my  outstanding  'impression'  of  the  Convention  the  conviction 
that  the  gathering  was  so  great  in  itself  tliat  the  personality  of  the 
delegates  completely  overmastered  every  utterance  from  the  plat- 
form. Those  strong,  genial,  level-headed,  purposeful  men  so  filled 
my  thought  that  I  am  still  talking  about  them  on  every  occasion. 
They  are  what  made  the  Convention  great;  they  are  of  the  men 
who  have  made  the  New  South ;  they  are  the  men  who  will  make 
new  and  adequate  the  missionary  enterprise  of  Southern  Metho- 
dism. May  I  add,  on  behalf  of  those  of  us  who  were  so  favored 
as  to  be  guests  of  the  Convention,  that  the  Convention  Committee 
and  the  city  of  Chattanooga  created  a  new  definition  of  Convention 
hospitality  ?  I  think  that  all  of  us,  from  the  Ambassador  down  to 
myself,  are  henceforth  'yours  to  command.'  " 

Mr.  J.  Harry  Tyler,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  Secretary  of  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Church, 
says:  "I  congratulate  you  upon  the  spirit  and  result  of  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  Conference  at  Chattanooga.  The 
large  and  representative  attendance  evidenced  deep  and  widespread 
interest  among  the  laymen,  which  augurs  well  for  the  future.  The 
educational  exhibit  was  particularly  impressive  and  instructive. 
Give  the  people  facts.  Money  and  service  will  follow.  I  see  dan- 
ger in  a  tendency  in  some  sections  to  embrace  too  many  objects  in 
the  Movement.  Limitation  is  vital  to  its  success.  The  idea  of 
emergency  men  is  good.  The  Conference  did  wisely  not  to  set  the 
financial  aim  too  high.  Leave  no  stone  unturned  to  reach  your 
mark.  To  follow  up  systematically  and  thoroughly  such  a  Con- 
ference, thus  making  effective  and  permanent  its  enthusiasm,  is 
all-important." 

Senator  J,  L.  Foust,  one  of  Chattanooga's  leading  citizens,  gives 


A  CONFERENCE  THAT   COUNTS.  9 

his  opinion  as  follows :  "The  recent  Laymen's  Conference  held  in 
Chattanooga  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit  to  Chattanooga  in  a 
spiritual  way.  Christianity  and  its  duties,  responsibilities,  and 
opportunities,  and  the  duties,  responsibilities,  and  capabilities  of 
the  newly  discovered  asset  of  the  Church,  the  laymen,  were  greatly 
impressed  upon,  not  only  Southern  Methodism  here,  but  upon  all 
the  Christian  people  of  the  city.  The  importance  of  missions  has 
been  placed  more  forcibly  before  the  people  of  Chattanooga,  and 
the  cause  of  missions  generally  has  been  given  a  great  uplift." 

The  Chattanooga  Star,  one  of  the  papers  which  gave  its  space 
liberally,  said  in  an  editorial :  "Now  that  the  Laymen's  Conference 
has  passed  into  history,  the  people  of  Chattanooga  can  pause  to 
take  stock  and  see  what  was  accomplished.  It  was  a  representa- 
tive body  of  men,  and  these  men  began  a  great  work  for  the  cause 
of  missions.  Their  presence  here  was  an  inspiration  to  this  com- 
munity, and  they  set  in  motion  certain  currents  of  thought  that  are 
sure  to  run  through  the  life  of  this  people  for  a  long  time  to  come. 
The  programme  was  of  an  unusually  high  order,  and  every  speak- 
er invited  was  here  and  carried  out  his  part.  Some  of  the  speak- 
ers were  men  of  eminence  in  their  several  lines  of  endeavor,  and 
a  few  of  them  have  world-wide  fame." 

The  following  is  from  Mr.  Charles  A.  Rowland,  Athens,  Ga., 
Chairman  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States :  "I  considered  myself  fortunate  in  being  per- 
mitted to  attend  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Conference  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church  at  Chattanooga.  One  look  at  that 
vast  audience  was  enough  to  satisfy  any  one  that  business  men 
are  rapidly  beginning  to  realize  that  missions  is  a  man's  business. 
The  fact,  too,  that  they  had  left  their  business  for  three  days  to 
consider  their  individual  world-wide  responsibility  indicates  that  a 
new  element  has  entered  into  the  missionary  enterprise,  which  is 
going  to  be  a  tremendous  force  in  enabling  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
give  the  gospel  to  the  world  in  the  next  twenty-five  years." 

Two  of  our  chief  shepherds  have  given  expression  to  their  esti- 
mates of  the  Conference  in  strong  words.  Bishop  Candler  says : 
"The  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  promises  much  good  for 
the  cause  of  Christ  on  both  sides  of  the  world — a  speedier  carrying 
of  the  gospel  to  the  pagan  world  and  a  more  rapid  growth  in 
grace  among  the  laymen  of  our  own  country.  The  recent  meeting 
at  Chattanooga  showed  that  the  movement  has  taken  strong  hold 


lO  THE   AWAKENING. 

of  a  large  number  of  the  best  and  wisest  laymen  in  the  Church. 
The  attendance  on  that  meeting,  in  both  quantity  and  quality,  gives 
assurance  that  the  strong  men  of  the  Church  are  going  to  take 
hold  of  the  cause  of  missions  as  never  before  in  our  history.  Evi- 
dently they  propose  to  lift  this  greatest  work  of  the  Church  above 
the  support  of  occasional  collections  taken  to  meet  minimum  as- 
sessments, and  place  it  upon  the  high  plane  of  a  great  business 
enterprise  conducted  under  the  convictions  of  Christian  consecra- 
tion." 

Bishop  Hendrix  says :  "The  Laymen's  Convention  in  Chattanoo- 
ga takes  rank  in  importance  and  power  with  the  Ecumenical  Mis- 
sionary Conference  in  New  York  City  in  1900,  and  with  the  New 
Orleans  Missionary  Conference  of  1901.  It  is  the  child  of  the 
New  Orleans  meeting,  as  that  was  of  the  New  York  gathering.  It 
could  not  have  taken  place  seven  years  ago,  because  our  laymen  are 
just  now  beginning  to  realize  that  they  are  'members  in  particular' 
of  the  body  of  Christ.  While  the  laymen,  jointly  with  the  Mis- 
sionary Secretaries,  prepared  the  programme,  they  modestly  re- 
frained from  filling  all  the  hours,  but  sought  the  help  of  some  visit- 
ing missionaries  and  of  a  few  specialists  in  missions,  like  Bishops 
Wilson  and  Candler  and  the  great  specialist  in  missionary  work  in 
America,  Dr.  Josiah  Strong.  There  was  unity  of  sentiment,  a 
calm  recognition  of  personal  duty,  a  heroic  desire  to  advance.  By 
their  own  vote  they  recognized  that  of  the  500,000,000  unevangel- 
ized  heathen  that  fell  to  America  our  Church's  proportion  was  not 
less  than  40,000,000,  and  that  we  should  have  1,600  missionaries  in 
the  field  and  furnish  $3,000,000  a  year  to  sustain  them.  This  will 
mean  $2  a  year,  or  less  than  four  cents  a  week,  from  each  of  our 
1,725,000  preachers  and  members.  Some  devout  laymen  will  give 
thousands  of  dollars  hereafter  who  have  hitherto  been  giving  only 
their  share  of  a  small  assessment.  But  best  of  all,  many  will  give 
their  lives  as  well,  either  in  person  or  by  having  a  personal  repre- 
sentative on  the  field.  The  Church  discovers  herself  rich  in  unde- 
veloped resources  of  lives  and  treasure  now  ready  for  consecrated 
use.  Hitherto  we  have  hardly  dared  call  on  the  Reserves,  lest 
there  be  no  response;  now  the  thousands  of  Reserves  are  asking 
to  be  called  on  for  money  or  service.  It  is  God  speaking  in  the 
awakened  and  willing  hearts  of  our  laymen." 


II. 

PURPOSES  AND  PLANS. 


DECLARATION. 

We,  laymen  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  with  a  sense  of 
gratitude  to  God  for  a  part  in  the  work  of  his  Church,  and  keenly  real- 
izing our  obHgation  to  him  for  the  right  use  of  our  light  and  opportuni- 
ties, hereby  declare: 

1.  That  we  accept  the  estimate  of  our  secretaries  that  40,000,000  is 
our  just  share  of  the  unevangelized  peoples  for  whose  evangelization  we, 
as  a  Church,  are  in  the  providence  of  God  responsible.  We  now  employ 
one  missionary  for  every  158,000  of  these  people,  and  we  contribute  one 
and  a  half  cents  toward  the  evangelization  of  each  person  of  the  40,000,000 
souls. 

2.  That  at  our  present  rate  it  would  require  two  hundred  years  to  evan- 
gelize this  number.  To  accompHsh  it  in  this  generation  will  require  the 
employment  of  1,600  missionaries  and  the  outlay  of  $3,000,000  annually. 
This  means  four  times  the  money  and  missionaries  we  now  supply,  and  yet 
it  is  less  than  one  missionary  to  every  one  thousand  of  our  membership 
and  less  than  two  dollars  annually  on  an  average  for  each  member  of  our 
Church. 

3.  In  view  of  our  wealth  and  opportunity,  together  with  the  urgency  and 
sacredness  of  the  obligation,  this  is  neither  an  unreasonable  nor  imprac- 
ticable task.  We  therefore  hereby  resolve  on  our  part  to  set  about  reach- 
ing this  goal,  and  call  upon  our  leaders  to  set  this  aim  before  the  Church. 

4.  As  a.  step  in  the  direction  of  this  achievement,  we  urge  upon  our 
fellow-laymen  to  join  us  in  the  purpose  to  increase  our  missionary  con- 
tribution to  our  Boards  of  Foreign  Missions  to  $1,000,000  during  the  com- 
ing year.  This  means  an  increase  of  a  little  more  than  $200,000  above 
what  we  are  now  paying.  We  hereby  request  our  bishops,  secretaries,  pre- 
siding elders,  and  pastors  to  make  the  watchword  for  the  year  "A  Million 
Dollars  for  Foreign  Missions." 

5.  Since  prayer  is  our  mightiest  human  agency,  we  urge  on  our  brethren, 
in  common  with  other  bodies,  to  join  in  the  use  of  the  noon  hour  of  each 
day  as  a  time  of  prayer  for  the  awakening  of  the  Church  to  a  sense  of  its 
obligation  and  for  the  speedy  evangelization  of  the  world. 

(12) 


II. 

PURPOSES  AND  PLANS. 

After  what  has  been  said  already,  no  one  will  be  surprised  that 
the  papers  adopted  by  the  Conference  are  considered  of  sufficient 
importance  to  form  a  separate  chapter.  We  are  sure  the  reader 
will  agree  with  us.  A  movement  is  to  be  measured  not  only  by 
the  loftiness  of  its  intentions,  but  also  by  the  intelligence  of  its 
methods.  It  was  not  the  courage  and  patriotism  of  Japan  alone 
that  won  in  her  war  against  Russia.  It  was  also  and  chiefly  the 
high  intelligence  with  which  she  planned  her  campaign  and  the 
skill  with  which  she  pushed  it.  It  must  be  so  always.  Even  a 
sacred  cause  gains  nothing  by  bungling  methods.  These  papers 
demonstrate  the  thoroughness  and  intelligence  with  which  the 
laymen's  campaign  has  been  planned,  and  make  it  clear  that  this 
is  no  burst  of  enthusiasm  that  is  to  waste  itself  in  mere  sentiments. 

We  have  not  here  included  everytliing  that  was  adopted  for  ob- 
vious reasons.  It  is  sufficient  that  those  papers  which  expressed 
the  mind  of  the  body  on  things  fundamental  should  be  embodied 
in  this  permanent  form.     Others  will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 

The  Declaration,  printed  on  the  opposite  page,  states  the  issues 
of  this  laymen's  campaign  clearly  and  strongly.  It  was  adopted 
with  unanimity,  except  on  one  item,  and  even  with  applause.  The 
only  dissent  from  its  terms  was  on  the  financial  side.  The  figure 
of  a  million  dollars  the  first  year  was  considered  by  many  as  en- 
tirely too  low,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  amend  that  part  of  the 
paper,  making  it  read  "one  million  eight  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars," an  increase  of  one  million  the  first  year.  This  motion  was 
received  with  applause.  It  was  only  after  a  breezy  discussion  and 
a  conservative  speech  from  Dr.  Lambuth,  Missionary  Secretary, 
that  a  majority  voted  to  set  the  figure  as  low  as  a  millicn  dollars 
for  the  first  year. 

Dr.  Lambuth  said : 

"I  rise  simply  to  make  an  explanation.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  discuss  the  resolution  which  has  been  presented  to  you  by  your 
committee,  inasmuch  as  the  resolution  immediately  follows  the 

(13) 


14  THE  AWAKENING. 

magnificent  presentation  of  the  demands  which  you  have  heard 
are  made  to-day  upon  the  Churches  of  Christendom.    [Applause.] 

"I  would  divide  the  40,cxx),(XX)  up  about  as  follows:  For  the 
Island  of  Cuba  we  are  responsible  for  1,000,000;  for  there  are  al- 
ready in  our  Church  one-third  of  the  Protestant  membership  on 
that  island,  the  population  being  1,500,000.  For  Mexico,  4,000,- 
000.  We  are  the  strongest  Church  in  Mexico,  and  the  population 
is  12,000,000.  That  makes  one-third  of  the  population.  In  Brazil, 
with  a  population  of  18,000,000,  I  put  the  figure  at  6,000,000,  or 
one-third  of  the  population  of  Brazil.  For  Japan,  with  47,000,000, 
we  put  it  down  to  the  very  small  number  of  6,000,000,  and  really 
it  ought  to  be  10,000,000  for  our  section  of  Japan.  Then  there's 
Korea,  with  a  population,  at  a  minimum,  of  10,000,000,  and  many 
place  it  at  12,000,000.  I  put  our  responsibility  at  2,000,000.  In 
China  we  occupy  one-half  of  a  province,  which  has  a  population 
of  30,000,000  souls,  and  about  one-half  of  another  province,  with 
a  population  of  about  25,000,000  souls;  so  I'll  put  it  at  about  21,- 
000,000  for  those  provinces  in  the  Chinese  Empire.  This  makes  a 
total  of  40,000,000,  This  has  been  based  upon  a  careful  and  con- 
servative study  of  the  field  by  our  Board  for  fifty  years. 

"We  now  have  252  missionaries,  including  the  missionaries  of 
the  Woman's  Board,  175  of  these  being  under  the  General  Board, 
and  nearly  half  of  the  latter  number  being  the  wives  of  missiona- 
ries ;  splendid  workers  many  of  them  are,  and  yet  not  all  of  them, 
on  account  of  domestic  duties,  are  able  to  go  out  from  their  homes 
and  do  active  work.  Therefore  we  ought  to  have  1,600  able- 
bodied  men  and  women  engaged  in  these  six  fields  in  order  to 
reach  the  40,000,000  souls  within  our  generation,  which  we  can  do 
if  we  employ  this  force ;  and  an  outlay  of  $3,000,000  annually  in 
order  to  maintain  the  force  of  1,600  missionaries,  with  their  equip- 
ment of  schools  and  hospitals,  and  for  evangelistic  funds  and  other 
equipment  essential  for  the  carrying  on  of  this  work.  This  means 
four  times  the  money  and  missionaries  we  now  supply;  and  yet 
it  is  less  than  one  missionary  to  every  1,000  of  our  membership, 
and  less  than  two  dollars  annually  for  each  member  of  our  great 
Church. 

"I  will  say  nothing  about  what  the  Northern  Presbyterian 
Church  makes  itself  responsible  for — 100,000,000  souls,  and  the 
resolve  by  its  laymen  to  raise  the  $6,000,000  required  to  reach  this 
100,000,000  souls — ^but  I  wish  to  refer  for  a  moment  to  the  South- 


PURPOSES  AND   PLANS.  15 

ern  Presbyterian  Church,  that  plucky  little  Church  that  works  with 
us,  side  by  side,  here  in  these  Southern  States,  with  a  membership 
of  250,000.  It  raises  now  for  foreign  missions  $275,000  annually, 
which  is  more  than  one  dollar  per  member,  [Applause.]  And 
we,  the  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  with  a  member- 
ship of  1,700,000,  are  giving  forty  cents  each — forty  cents  each! — 
and  that  by  the  side  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  which  puts 
down  a  dollar.  "Not  content  with  this,  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  last  year  resolved,  inasmuch  as 
it  was  responsible  for  25,000,000  souls,  to  raise  $1,000,000  a  year, 
which  makes  four  dollars  apiece  for  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church.  [Applause.]  We  raised  as  a  Church  this  last  year 
$715,000  for  foreign  missions  under  the  Parent  and  the  Woman's 
Boards,  which  would  bring  it  up  to  about  $750,000 ;  so  that  there 
would  be  left  about  $250,000  to  raise  under  these  two  Boards  be- 
fore you  reach  the  million  line. 

"Your  Secretaries  having  consulted  this  morning  in  regard  to 
the  matter,  it  is  in  their  judgment  far  better  for  us,  with  the  ob- 
jective of  1,600  missionaries,  and  with  the  amount  of  $3,000,000, 
that  we  set  ourselves  during  the  next  twelve  months  to  undertake 
the  thing  that  we  can  do,  raising  a  call  for  $1,000,000  and  bring 
up  the  $250,000.  Then  next  year  raise  a  call  for  $2,000,000,  and 
so  on  until  we  reach  the  $3,000,000.  In  this  way  we  can  put  our 
force  on  the  field  and  maintain  it !     [Applause.] 

"In  consideration  of  our  being  in  the  midst  of  the  fiscal  year  of 
our  Annual  Conferences,  and  in  view  of  the  financial  strin- 
gency which  we  have  had  during  the  past  year,  we  deem  it  wise 
that  you  confine  this  part  of  the  paper  to  the  sum  mentioned — ^that 
is,  two  hundred  or  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars — in  or- 
der to  make  the  round  $1,000,000  for  missions,  not  losing  sight  of 
the  fact  that  your  goal  is  $3,000,000,  or  two  dollars  per  member, 
for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South." 

It  was  indeed  a  rare  sight  to  see  a  Missionary  Secretary  stand 
before  laymen  and  caution  them  against  a  radical  advance  in  mis- 
sionary finance. 

The  following  amendment  offered  by  Mr.  John  P.  Petti  John 
was  adopted :  "■ 

Resolved:  i.  That,  in  order  to  meet  the  great  demands  now  upon  our 
Church  looking  to  the  complete  occupation  of  the  foreign  fields  now  open 


l6  THE   AWAKENINa 

to  US,  we  proceed  at  once  to  increase  our  contributions!  to  foreign  mis- 
sions up  to  the  sum  of  $1,000,000. 

2.  That,  when  this  shall  have  been  done  by  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  of 
the  General  Board  of  Missions,  March  31,  1909,  our  Executive  Commit- 
tee shall  request  the  General  Bpard  of  Missions  to  make  a  call  for  a 
million  and  a  half  dollars  for  foreign  missions,  which  would  be  about  a 
dollar  a  member  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

The  stewardship  of  the  body  of  laymen  is,  in  its  last  analysis, 
dependent  on  the  stewardship  of  individuals.  And  when  all  has 
been  said  and  resolved,  the  final  outcome  will  be  determined  by  the 
response  of  the  units  that  make  up  this  army.  Realizing  this,  the 
Conference  unanimously  adopted  the  following-  as  their  measure 
of  personal  financial  obligation : 

Whereas  our  Southland  has  been  blessed  with  great  increase  of  wealth; 
and  whereas  riches  will  be  a  curse  to  us  unless  we  recognize  our  stew- 
ardship for  God;  and  whereas  the  only  safe  financial  basis  for  the  in- 
dividual Christian  and  the  Church  is  that  set  forth  in  God's  word — ^viz., 
for  each  to  lay  by  in  store  as  God  has  prospered  him  a  portion  of  his 
income  which  he  recognizes  as  holy  unto  the  Lord;  and  whereas  such 
habit  would  settle  our  financial  Church  problems;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved:  I.  That  we  urge  each  member  of  every  Church  to  adopt  the 
plan  of  paying  not  less  than  one-tenth  of  his  income  to  God's  cause. 

2.  That  we  request  the  Publishing  House  to  furnish  the  literature  and 
tracts  on  tithing,  and  especially  Bishop  Key's  sermon  in  pamphlet  form, 
and  that  our  pastors  aid  and  encourage  all  the  lay  leaders  to  begin  a 
campaign  of  education  and  consecration  on  this  subject 

3.  That  the  pastors  be  urged  to  preach  the  gospel  of  money;  and  to 
the  end  that  they  be  unhampered  in  so  doing,  we  recommend  that  the 
stewards  wherever  praAicable  relieve  our  pastors  of  taking  all  collections. 

4.  We  believe  the  mission  work  is  one,  and  that  the  best  available 
men  should  be  sent  to  mission  appointments,  and  we  urge  the  bishops 
and  their  cabinets  to  send  the  most  efficient  men  possible  to  our  missions 
at  home  and  abroad.  To  secure  this,  we  pledge  them  our  cooperation 
both  in  supporting  the  workers  and  in  sacrificing  our  personal  prefer- 
ences for  particular  men  to  serve  our  local  Churches. 

•  5-  We  call  upon  our  young  men  to  recognize  that  heroic  service  is 
^  needed  in  our  mission  work  and  to  volunteer  for  service  in  the  mission 
*  field  at  home  and  abroad. 

6.  That  our  Church  papers  publish  these  resolutions,  and  that  the 
Executive  Committee  provide  for  putting  a  printed  copy  into  the  hands 
of  all  our  laymen. 

This  was  followed  by  a  resolution  expressing  a  desire  to  be 
helpful  and  share  the  work,  and  offering  to  pastors  the  service  of 


PURPOSES  AND  PLANS.  1 7 

the  laymen  in  the  raising  of  the  annual  collections,  declaring: 
"Such  a  service,  if  asked  from  us,  and  such  a  duty,  if  placed  in 
our  hands,  we  will  accept  as  a  loving  service  for  our  Church  and 
a  sacred  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  God." 

No  question  elicited  more  interest  than  the  proposition  to  form 
an  Emergency  Corps.  Interest  had  been  created  in  this  matter 
by  a  pamphlet  written  by  Mr.  John  R.  Pepper  on  that  subject, 
calling  for  ten  thousand  emergency  men  who  would  stand  ready  to 
respond  in  aid  of  such  emergencies  as  might  be  properly  presented 
from  time  to  time.    The  resolution  reads  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  an  Emergency  Corps,  working  under  the  auspices  of 
and  in  cooperation  with  the  General  Board  of  Missions,  is  hereby  estab- 
lished in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  each  member  of  which 
is  pledged,  according  to  his  ability,  to  respond  to  any  emergency  call  for 
money,  provided  that  no  such  call  shall  be  made  except  upon  the  indorse- 
ment of  the  Executive  Committee  of  this  Movement;  provided,  further, 
that  membership  in  this  Corps  may  be  terminated  upon  notice. 

All  laymen  are  urged  to  join  this  company  by  sending  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Executive  Committee  their  request  for  membership,  and  thus  co- 
operate to  make  this  Movement  a  powerful  agency  for  good  in  our 
Church. 

On  this  resolution  Dr.  Lambuth  said,  among  other  things : 
"It  is  hardly  necessary  that  I  should  speak  to  any  of  these  reso- 
lutions, because  they  have  already  been  adopted  by  you,  and  unan- 
imously; but  I  make  this  apology  for  doing  so:  First  of  all,  the 
great  need  of  the  home  field  in  our  rural  districts,  in  our  mining 
sections,  in  our  cities,  and  among  our  foreign  population  (you 
have  just  heard  the  statement  that  1,250,000  came  to  our  shores 
last  year ;  and,  secondly,  because  a  leaflet  has  been  prepared  by  the 
Chairman,  which  he  has  been  entirely  too  modest  to  say  anything 
about.  I  therefore  take  the  liberty  of  asking  that  I  be  given  your 
permission  to  read  part  of  this  leaflet.  The  title  of  it  is :  'War  Is 
On !    Ten  Thousand  Emergency  Men  Needed.' 

"On  the  first  two  pages  is  shown  the  progress  of  the  work  from 
1807  to  1907.  Then  your  Chairman  proceeds  to  show  in  this 
pamphlet  that  the  forces  and  funds  are  inadequate.  He  then  adds 
that  emergency  men  and  money  are  needed ;  and  this,  brethren,  is 
without  distinction  of  home  and  foreign  missions.  It  includes  in  its 
needs  these  people  who  are  at  our  doors,  and  for  which  need  we 
have  not  otherwise  provided.  He  suggests  in  this  leaflet  that  out 
of  the  500,000  mature  men  in  our  Church  it  is  entirely  reasonable 
2 


l8  THE   AWAKENING. 

that  we  should  find  10,000  laymen,  genuine  lovers  of  God,  of  the 
souls  of  men,  and  of  the  Church  in  which  they  have  been  reared 
and  which  has  given  them  shelter  all  their  lives,  who  will  be  will- 
ing to  have  their  names  and  post  office  addresses  recorded  at  head- 
quarters, and  who  will  pledge  by  God's  blessing  to  respond  one  or 
more  times  a  year  or  at  frequent  intervals,  as  the  case  may  be,  in 
certain  definite  sums,  as  each  may  elect  for  himself  in  the  light  of 
God's  providence  and  in  answer  to  his  own  enlightened  conscience, 
such  funds  to  be  called  for  by  the  regular  authorized  methods  of 
•the  Church  and  to  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  General  Board  of 
Missions. 

"Now,  there  is  where  you  will  get  funds  for  hospitals ;  there  is 
where — more  important  still — you  will  get  funds  for  your  Italians 
(10,000  strong  in  Florida)  pouring  into  the  city  of  New  Orleans; 
for  your  Hungarians  in  the  State  of  Texas,  where  they  have  fairly 
taken  up  two  whole  counties,  where  the  farmers  have  moved  out 
and  tlie  American  schoolhouses  have  been  closed,  where  some  of 
our  churches  have  been  closed  because  of  this  foreign  population, 
and  where  we  have  had  no  missionary  to  speak  to  them  in  their 
own  tongue. 

"Your  Chairman  adds :  'What  we  do  must  be  done  quickly,  as 
it  is  an  actual  fact  that  every  time  a  watch  ticks  or  your  pulse 
beats  it  records  the  dropping  off  of  an  immortal  heathen  soul  into 
eternity  without  even  having  heard  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
only  name  "under  heaven  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be 
saved." ' 

"He  closes  by  suggesting  that  the  names  and  addresses  of  the 
emergency  men  shall  be  sent  to  the  Board  of  Missions — or  more 
properly  to  the  Secretary,  I  should  say,  of  your  Executive  Com- 
mittee— indicating  that,  if  they  are  willing  to  subscribe  at  any 
time  there  is  an  emergency  call,  at  home  or  abroad,  this  call  shall 
be  in  accordance  with  these  resolutions  which  you  have  just  adopt- 
ed by  unanimous  vote.  That  insures  your  subscription  being  sent 
in  as  prescribed. 

"I  am  glad  to  say  that  one  layman,  a  member  of  this  body,  has 
already  announced  the  fact  that  he  will  be  an  emergency  man  to 
the  extent  of  $5,000  if  needed.  [Applause.]  That  being  the  case, 
I  am  sure  there  are  others  who  will  put  themselves  on  that  list, 
and  let  it  grow  until  you  have  ten  thousand  emergency  men  who 
shall  meet  these  great  emergencies,  and  thus  put  this  great  work 


J^URPOSES   AND   PLANS.  IQ 

upon  a  solid  basis  at  home  and  abroad,  for  which  sometimes  we 
make  appeals  in  vain." 

In  keeping  with  the  declaration  already  quoted,  "Missions  Is 
One,"  and  in  keeping  also  with  the  well-defined  policy  of  our 
Church,  the  following  paper  was  adopted: 

Whereas  the  movement  of  the  population  is  from  the  country  to  the 
cities,  and  thirty-nine  of  the  one  hundred  largest  cities  of  the  United 
States  are  located  in  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South  (in  recent  years  these  cities  have  had  a  tremendous 
growth,  owing  to  the  marked  industrial  development  of  our  Southland. 
Protestant  Churches  have  not  kept  pace  in  their  membership  with  the 
growth  of  the  cities'  population.  Downtown  and  slum  districts  are  rap- 
idly congesting  with  churchless  masses  and  perplexing  problems)  ;  and 
whereas  the  unprecedented  foreign  immigration  of  more  than  a  million 
and  a  quarter  in  1907  has  developed  a  distinct  movement  to  the  Southern 
States  (foreign  ships  direct  from  Southern  Europe  now  enter  Gulf  and 
South  Atlantic  ports  loaded  with  raw  immigrants  who  are  distributed 
throughout  the  South  and  Southwest.  These  aliens  are  both  a  menace 
to  our  American  institutions  and  a  challenge  to  our  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity) ;  and  whereas  our  mill  operatives,  mining  population,  and  mountain 
people  constitute  peculiar  situations  which  are  difficult  to  reach  with  the 
gospel;  and  whereas  the  last  General  Conference  organized  the  Home 
Department  of  the  Board  of  Missions  and  authorized  the  Board  to  elect 
an  assistant  secretary  to  have  charge  of  the  same,  with  specific  instructions 
to  develop  a  system  for  the  evangelization  of  the  cities,  the  foreigners  in 
our  midst,  and  the  mill,  mining,  and  mountain  populations,  and  unite  our 
great  Church  in  a  concentrated  effort  to  solve  these  problems;  therefore 
be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  now  assembled  in  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  That  we  very 
heartily  indorse  this  connectional  movement  of  the  whole  Church  to  evan- 
gelize the  entire  home  land  and  pledge  our  hearty  support  to  the  Home 
Mission  Department  of  the  Board  of  I.Iissions  toward  making  effective 
whatever  plans  may  be  adopted. 

The  resolution  which  called  forth  the  most  universal  and  vocif- 
erous applause  was  the  resolution  on  "Prohibition,"  a  subject  that 
never  failed  by  its  slightest  mention  to  elicit  the  unqualified  and 
enthusiastic  indorsement  of  the  body.  There  was  no  mistaking  the 
side  on  which  these  representative  Methodist  laymen  stood  on  this 
great  question.  The  preamble  and  resolution,  which  were  unani- 
mously adopted,  are  as  follows : 

Whereas  one  of  the  greatest  curses  to  the  human  race  is  the  sale  and 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors  and  opiates;  and  whereas  the  evangelization 


20  THE  AWAKENINa 

of  the  world  is  seriously  hindered  by  this  traffic,  at  home  and  abroad,  as 
Ambassador  Bryce,  from  Great  Britain,  truthfully  said  in  his  address  on 
this  platform ;  and  whereas  the  legalizing  of  the  traffic  is  criminal  part- 
nership which  besmirches  the  character  of  any  nation  and  discredits  our 
missionary  operations;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  complete  wiping  out  of  the  traffic,  except 
for  medicinal  and  scientific  purposes. 

The  Plan  of  Organization,  though  simple,  is  thoroughly  adjust- 
ed to  our  policy,  and  is  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Move- 
ment.    It  is  as  follows : 

1.  This  Movement  shall  be  called  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

2.  The  officers  shall  consist  of  a  President,  three  Vice  Presidents,  a 
Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer.  There  shall  be  an  Executive  Committee  of 
nine  laymen  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  who  shall  be 
ex  oMcio  a  member  of  this  committee.  This  committee  shall  have  full 
power  to  act  in  the  interim  of  meetings  of  the  Central  Committee. 

3.  The  Central  Committee  shall  consist  of  the  Conference  Lay  Leader 
from  each  Annual  Conference,  to  be  chosen  by  the  lay  delegates  to  the 
Annual  Conference,  together  with  a  Vice  Leader  to  act  in  the  absence 
of  the  Leader,  or,  in  case  of  no  election,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Confer- 
ence Board  of  Missions.  They  shall  meet  at  the  call  of  the  Executive 
Committee. 

4.  There  shall  be  held  a  delegated  Conference  every  two  years  at  such 
time  and  place  and  with  such  delegation  as  the  Central  Committee  may 
determine.  The  officers  and  Executive  Committee  shall  be  chosen  by 
the  Central  Committee  at  the  time  of  each  Biennial  Conference.  Vacan- 
cies may  be  filled  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

5.  There  shall  be  a  Conference  Committee  in  each  Annual  Conference. 
It  shall  be  composed  of  one  Lay  Leader  from  each  presiding  elder's  dis- 
trict, who  shall  be  elected  annually  by  the  lay  delegates  to  the  District 
Conference.  The  Leader  of  the  Annual  Conference  shall  be  ex  officio 
Chairman  of  this  committee. 

6.  There  shall  be  a  District  Committee  to  be  composed  of  one  Lay 
Leader  from  each  congregation  to  be  selected  by  the  Quarterly  Confer- 
ence of  the  charge.  The  Lay  Leader  of  the  district  shall  be  Chairman  of 
this  committee. 

7.  There  shall  be  a  Missionary  Committee  of  five  members  or  more  in 
each  individual  Church,  to  be  elected  by  the  Church  Conference  of  which 
the  Lay  Leader  for  that  Church  shall  be  Chairman. 

8.  All  of  these  Leaders,  together  with  all  members  of  the  Movement, 
shall  be  within  the  limits  and  subject  to  the  directions  and  constituted 
authority  of  the  Church,  and  shall  work  in  cooperation  with  the  Parent 
and  Conference  Boards  of  Missions. 

The  unit  of  administration  in  this  Plan  of  Organization  is  the  Leader. 
The  Annual  Conference,  District,  and  Church  Leaders  are  so  related  to 


PURPOSES   AND   PLANS.  21 

each  other  that  any  instructions,  plans,  or  literature  can  be  sent  down 
the  line  from  the  Central  Committee  to  the  last  layman  of  the  Church, 
information  and  cooperation  being  in  this  way  swiftly  secured  from  the 
remotest  bounds  of  the  Church.  Full,  alert,  and  prompt  cooperation  alone 
on  the  part  of  all  these  Leaders  will  make  this  Movement  effective  in 
securing  its  great  ends.  The  failure  of  any  one  of  them  will  break  the 
force  and  render  ineffective  to  that  extent  the  work  of  all  the  rest. 

The  following-  paper  was  offered  by  the  Committee  on  Organiza- 
tion and  adopted : 

We,  your  Committee  on  Permanent  Organization,  beg  leave  to  submit 
the  following  supplemental  report: 

The  report  submitted  yesterday  set  forth  the  missionary  policy  of  the 
Laymen's  Movement,  but  was  not  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  take  in 
all  the  interests  that  it  contemplates. 

Therefore,  we  declare  the  full  purpose  of  the  Laymen's  Movement  to 
be  the  enlistment  of  the  laymen  of  the  Church  in  all  its  varied  activities, 
such  as  missions,  home  and  foreign,  city  evangelization  as  outlined  by 
the  City  Methodist  Union,  Church  extension,  education,  Sunday  schools, 
Epworth  Leagues,  personal  work,  philanthropy,  reform,  benevolence,  fra- 
ternity, and  such  other  work  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  Church  in  car- 
rying out  her  God-given  mission. 

The  Educational  Policy  adopted  is  no  less  thorough  and  far- 
reaching  than  the  Plan  of  Organization.  It  includes  a  basis,  a 
policy,  and  a  plan : 

The  basis  of  all  permanent  interest  is  information.  The  foundation  of 
every  deep  conviction  is  knowledge.  Recognizing  these  facts  from  the 
begfinning,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  announced  as  its  first  aim 
"to  project  a  campaign  of  education  among  the  laymen  to  be  conducted 
under  the  direction  of  the  various  Mission  Boards."  In  line,  therefore, 
with  this  policy,  it  is  needful  that  we  should  inaugurate  a  far-reaching 
campaign  of  missionary  education. 

The  Policy. 

As  missionary  education  involves  instruction  first  in  principles,  then 
in  facts,  and  also  the  development  of  a  sense  of  obligation,  we  would 
recommend,  in  order  to  establish  these  lines  of  educational  influence,  the 
following : 

1.  A  prayerful  and  regular  study  of  the  Bible  by  the  laymen  of  the 
Church,  with  a  greater  emphasis  on  its  missionary  interpretation  and  with 
more  careful  consideration  of  the  doctrine  of  Christian  stewardship. 

2.  The  free  distribution  among  all  laymen  of  the  Church  of  a  well- 
selected  leaflet  literature  touching  every  important  phase  of  the  great 
missionary  enterprise. 


22  THE  AWAKENING. 

3.  A  persistent  effort  to  make  great  books  on  missions  a  necessary 
part  of  every  intelligent  layman's  library  and  to  select  and  circulate  those 
missionary  books  specially  adapted  to  interest  and  inspire  laymen. 

4.  A  vigorous  effort  to  increase  the  list  of  subscribers  to  Go  Forward, 
the  missionary  periodical  of  the  Church,  and  to  enlarge  the  circulation 
of  Conference  organs. 

5.  The  frequent  discussion  of  missions  from<  the  scriptural  and  busi- 
ness point  of  view  by  laymen  in  missionary  meetings,  rallies,  and  in- 
stitutes. 

The  Plan  of  Execution. 

Recognizing  the  fact  that  this  Movement  looks  beyond  the  perpetua- 
tion of  itself  to  the  making  of  a  great  Missionary  Church,  we  feel  the 
need  of  well-laid  plans  for  carrying  into  effect  the  policy  above  outlined. 
We  therefore  suggest, 

I.  As  touching  the  text-book  of  missions : 

1.  A  declaration  of  faith  in  the  Bible  as  a  missionary  book. 

2.  A  systematic  effort  to  enlist  men  in  daily  Bible  study  and  prayer. 

3.  The  introduction  of  missions  as  a  supplemental  course  of  study 

in  Sunday  school  classes  composed  of  men. 

4.  The  publication  in  booklet  form,  for  free  distribution,  of  a  brief 

but  strong  discussion  of  "The  Bible  as  a  Missionary  Book." 

IT.  As  touching  the  publication  and  circulation  of  a  general  missionary 
literature  and  the  missionary  literature  of  our  own  Church,  we  recom- 
mend: 

1.  The  establishment  of  a  Literature  Department  which  shall  ade- 

quately provide  for  the  selection,  creation,  and  circulation  of 
a  leaflet  literature  covering  every  phase  of  missions  and  adapt- 
ed to  our  needs,  and  the  selection  and  circulation,  at  the  least 
possible  cost,  of  such  great  missionary  books  as  will  appeal, 
in  the  subject  treated  or  manner  of  treatment,  to  thoughtful 
men;  also  the  prosecution  of  plans  for  increasing  the  circu- 
lation of  our  missionary  periodicals. 

2.  That  this  Literature  Department  be  located  in  Nashville,  Tenrf., 

in  order  that  the  Movement  may  avail  itself  of  the  best  pos- 
sible facilities  for  both  publishing  and  circulating  this  litera- 
ture. 

3.  Such  an  affiliation  of  this  Movement  with  the  great  educational 

movements  in  missions  will  secure  to  us  the  best  missionary 
books  at  the  least  possible  cost  and  at  the  same  time  put  us 
in  constant  touch  with  the  best  plans  and  materials  for  mis- 
sionary education. 
TIT.  As  touching  wider  lay  activity  in  the  agitation  of  missions,  we 
recommend; 

1.  That  the  laymen  who  are  studying  the  subject  accept  as  often  as 
possible  invitations  to  discuss  missionary  topics  at  the  various 
Conferences  and  other  meetings  of  the  Church. 


PURPOSES   AND    PLANS.  23 

2.  That   the    experienced    and    successful    laymen    of   the    Church 

volunteer  to  aid  the  young  preachers  of  the  near-by  country 
charges  and  small  towns  in  their  plans  of  missionary  edu- 
cation. 

3.  That  the  representative  business  men  of  the  Church  recognize 

the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  great  commission  and  acknowl- 
edge the  feasibility  of  its  success  by  taking  a  stand  for  larger 
missionary  activity  and  larger  Christian  liberality. 
IV.  As  touching  the  controlling  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  great  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  and  our  desire  for  the  best  results  and  for 
uniform  loyalty  in  our  own  Church,  we  recommend: 

That  in  all  missionary  agitation  and  education,  and  in  every 
effort  to  enlarge  the  missionary  activities  of  the  Church,  the 
Movement  shall  be  careful  to  keep  in  thorough  sympathy  and 
close  cooperation  with  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Church. 

Thus  were  the  lines  definitely  laid  out  on  which  the  forces  are 
to  move.  No  body  of  men  could  have  more  clearly  conceived 
what  they  were  aiming  at  or  more  thoroughly  planned  to  compass 
it.  Truly  in  the  language  of  the  emergency  call,  "The  .war  is  on !" 
and  the  lines  are  getting  in  motion. 


III. 

ADDRESSES:  WELCOME  AND  RESPONSE. 


The  power  for  good  of  an  organization  like  this,  composed  of  men  ani- 
mated by  the  sole  purpose  of  doing  good  to  others,  is  beyond  estimate.  I 
apprehend  that  the  real  business  of  the  Convention  will  be  to  discuss  and 
formulate  plans  for  directing  this  great  force  into  good  works  where  the 
greatest  results  can  be  accomplished.  I  would  not  by  the  slightest  sugges- 
tion disparage  foreign  missionary  work  nor  by  any  word  of  mine  discour- 
age the  devoted  and  consecrated  men  and  women  who  contribute  and  la- 
bor in  that  field.  But  there  is  at  our  doors  an  opportunity  that  is  so  rich 
in  possibilities  and  so  promising  of  certain  results  that  it  appeals  not  only 
to  our  Christianity,  to  our  love  of  fellow-men,  but  to  our  patriotism  as 
well.  I  refer  to  the  youth  and  young  manhood  of  the  mountain  sections 
and  remote  rural  districts  of  this  section  of  the  South. — Address  of  Wel- 
come. 

The  great  Niagara  for  centuries  has  filled  the  eye  of  the  tourist  with 
wonder  and  admiration  next  akin  to  awe.  It  has  been  a  world  of  wasted 
power.  But  this  utihtarian  age  has  laid  the  hand  of  availability  upon  those 
great  and  hitherto  untamed  forces,  and  has  decreed  that  the  world  and 
mankind  shall  receive  a  recompense  from  tliis  hitherto  dormant  power. 
Likewise,  the  Church  has  discovered  in  its  laity  a  great  Niagara,  and  our 
purpose  in  coming  to  your  hospitable  town  is  to  launch  a  movement  that 
plans  to  organize  into  a  world  power  those  hitherto  untrained  forces  that 
mean  so  much  for  the  Church  and  that  have,  like  the  waters  of  the  great 
Niagara,  remained  in  a  large  sense  unbridled. — Response. 
(26) 


III. 


ADDRESSES:  WELCOME  AND  RESPONSE. 


Address  of  Welcome. 


HON.  W.  R.  CRABTREE,  MAYOR  OF  CHATTANOOGA. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
On  behalf  of  the  municipahty  and  of  all 
our  people,  I  extend  to  you  and  to  your 
distinguished  guests  a  cordial  welcome  to 
Chattanooga. 

In  this  convention  city  many  meetings 
are  held  representing  organized  effort  in 
commercial  and  industrial  enterprise,  in  be- 
nevolence and  fraternity,  and  in  education- 
al and  religious  work.  But  we  have  never 
entertained  a  body  of  men  whose  character 
and  purposes  command  higher  respect,  or  an  organization  whose 
possibilities  for  good  are  so  great. 

As  Chief  Executive  of  Chattanooga  and  as  a  Methodist  lay- 
man, I  wish  to  express  my  appreciation  of  your  selection  of  Chat- 
tanooga as  the  place  for  this  meeting.  Your  coming  is  a  joy  to  us, 
and  your  stay  will  be  a  benediction  to  this  community. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  and  proper  that  the  first  great  representa- 
tive Convention  of  the  Laymen  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  should  be  held  in  this  city.  Chattanooga's  magic 
development  and  marvelous  and  well-balanced  growth  are  typical 
of  the  success  of  this  Movement,  and  should  be  an  inspiration  to 
its  members. 

In  1865  Chattanooga  was  a  straggling  village,  whose  only 
claim  to  distinction  was  that  its  commanding  strategic  position 
brought  together  here  in  conflict  the  brave  soldiers  of  the  North 
and  the  South,  and  that  here  were  fought  the  sanguinary  and 
spectacular  battles  of  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  and  Look- 
out Mountain.  Within  the  past  ten  years  our  advancement  has 
been  startling  and  our  growth  so  stupendous  as  to  be  almost  be- 
yond belief.     During  that  period  our  population  has  grown  74 

(27) 


2S  THE   AWAKENING. 

per  cent,  our  investment  in  manufacturing  233  per  cent,  and  the 
value  of  our  manufactured  products  220  per  cent.  In  the  past 
seven  years  our  bank  deposits  have  increased  181  per  cent,  and 
the  receipts  of  the  Chattanooga  post  office  136  per  cent.  Our 
remarkable  financial  strength  and  soundness  during  depression  and 
panic  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  cashiers'  checks  have  not  been 
circulating  media  here  and  clearing  house  certificates  are  unknown 
in  Chattanooga. 

But  best  of  all,  the  civic  pride  and  moral  and  religious  tone  of 
the  community  have  increased  to  a  corresponding  extent.  The 
men's  organizations  of  all  our  Churches  are  strong,  effective,  and 
seeking  more  work  to  do  in  the  cause  of  righteousness.  I  cannot 
better  express  a  wish  for  the  greatest  growth  and  usefulness  for 
the  Laymen's  Movement  than  by  saying  I  hope  your  organization 
will  be  animated  by  the  potency,  the  virility,  and  the  zeal  of  the 
"Chattanooga  spirit." 

The  power  for  good  of  an  organization  like  this,  composed  of 
men  animated  by  the  sole  purpose  of  doing  good  to  others,  is 
beyond  estimate.  I  apprehend  that  the  real  business  of  the  Con- 
vention will  be  to  discuss  and  formulate  plans  for  directing  this 
great  force  into  good  works  where  the  greatest  results  can  be 
accomplished.  I  would  not  by  the  slightest  suggestion  disparage 
foreign  missionary  work  nor  by  any  word  of  mine  discourage  the 
devoted  and  consecrated  men  and  women  who  contribute  and 
labor  in  that  field.  But  there  is  at  our  doors  an  opportunity  that 
is  so  rich  in  possibilities  and  so  promising  of  certain  results  that 
it  appeals  not  only  to  our  Christianity,  to  our  love  of  fellow-men, 
but  to  our  patriotism  as  well.  I  refer  to  the  youth  and  young 
manhood  of  the  mountain  sections  and  remote  rural  districts  of 
this  section  of  the  South.  In  the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee, 
Georgia,  and  Alabama  there  are  multiplied  thousands  of  families 
who  are  entirely  without  or  have  grossly  inadequate  religious 
teaching  and  educational  facilities.  Their  children  are  being 
reared  in  ignorance ;  and  yet  these  people  are  the  descendants  of 
the  English  and  Scotch-Irish  who  fought  with  Cromwell  and  who 
came  to  these  shores  in  search  of  religious  and  political  freedom. 
Their  forefathers  were  the  pioneers  who  endured  hardship  and 
blazed  the  way  for  the  white  man's  advance  across  the  continent. 
They  descend  from  the  men  who  followed  Jackson  to  New  Or- 


GROUP  OF  CONFERENCE  LAY  LEADERS. 

Begin  at  top,  and  read  from  left  to  right: 

J.    B.    CAKUISLE,  JIDGE    K.    D.    HART,    GEN.  J.    S.    CARK,  JLDOE   F.    A.    CRITZ,  JUDGE    B.  J.    CASTEEL, 
J.    I-.    GAUGIl,    A.    E.    BONNELL. 


addresses:  welcome  and  response.  29 

leans  and  redeemed  this  country  from  a  succession  of  humiliating 
defeats. 

With  just  cause  we  boast  of  our  great  undeveloped  resources 
of  mineral  and  coal  and  timber,  and  we  devote  our  best  energies 
to  their  development.  But  the  greatest  undeveloped  resource  of 
the  Central  South  is  these  young  men  and  women,  with  their 
pure  blood,  their  fine  natural  minds,  and  their  inbred  love  of  lib- 
erty and  country.  They  respond  to  the  teachings  of  religion  and 
culture;  they  long  for  education  and  the  opportunities  it  brings. 
No  nobler  work  can  engage  your  energies;  you  can  confer  no 
greater  blessing  upon  our  beloved  country  than  by  giving  the 
religious  teaching  and  educational  facilities  they  need. 

Chattanooga  is  delighted  beyond  measure  that  this  Conference 
has  brought  within  our  gates,  as  an  honored  guest,  one  of  the 
highest  products  of  our  Christian  civilization  in  the  person  of  the 
distinguished  statesman  and  publicist  who  is  to  be  the  principal 
speaker  of  the  evening — a  man  who  at  a  time  when  he  was  a  fore- 
most member  of  the  greatest  legislative  body  in  Europe  gave  to 
the  world  a  work  which  has  won  the  admiration  and  applause  of 
every  intelligent  American  citizen,  and  which  yet  stands  as  an 
unrivaled  exposition  and  analysis  of  our  American  Constitution 
and  system  of  government ;  a  man  whose  broad,  enlightened,  and 
sympathetic  comprehension  of  all  that  pertains  to  human  society 
has  given  him  world-wide  honor  and  preeminence  and  made  him 
a  typical  representative  of  the  aspiration  and  spirit  of  this  occa- 
sion and  of  those  who  are  gathered  here  to  plan  and  work  for 
human  betterment.     [Applause.] 

Response  to  Address  of  Welcome. 

GEN.   JULIAN    S.    CARR,  DURHAM,   N.   C. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Your  Honor  the  Mayor,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
I  am  profoundly  grateful  for  the  very  handsome  way  in  which 
your  Honorable  Mayor  bade  us  welcome  to  this  progressive,  pros- 
perous, and  hospitable  city.  His  beautiful  words  were  like  "apples 
of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver ;"  and  I  feel  prouder  than  Jason,  re- 
turning victorious  from  his  search  for  the  golden  fleece,  because 
our  lines  have  fallen  in  such  pleasant  places.  Those  of  us  who 
have  enjoyed  your  refined  hospitality,  who  have  had  our  loves 
warmed  and  our  hearts  made  glad  by  the  many  polite  attentions 


30  THE  AWAKENINa 

showered  on  us  on  previous  occasions  were  perhaps,  in  a  manner, 
prepared ;  but  the  tokens  are  that  even  we  will  be  amazed. 

When  Coleridge  presented  to  Dorothy  Wordsworth  a  work  of 
his  genius,  she  said  to  him :  "It  is  a  book  to  caress,  peculiar,  dis- 
tinctive, individual.  We  will  read  it  together  in  the  gloaming, 
and  when  the  gathering  dusk  doth  film  the  page,  we  will  sit  with 
hearts  too  full  for  speech  and  think  it  over."  So  we,  when  we 
return  to  our  several  homes,  will  recall  with  a  deep  sense  of  ap- 
preciation the  soul-stirring,  charming,  cordial  welcome  which  has 
been  spoken  to  us  this  evening,  and  "will  sit  in  the  gloaming, 
with  hearts  too  full  for  speech,  and  think  it  over." 

It  has  been  wisely  remarked  that  this  Convention  marks  an 
epoch.  I  am  reminded  of  an  epoch  that  planned  to  fix  the  his- 
tory of  th'e  world  for  a  hundred  years.  At  the  little  town 
of  Tilsit,  on  the  river  Neimen,  in  Prussia,  precisely  at  i 
o'clock  on  June  25,  1807,  boats  put  off  from  opposite  sides  and 
rowed  rapidly  toward  a  raft  in  the  middle  of  the  stream.  Out  of 
each  boat  stepped  a  single  individual,  and  the  two  met  in  a  small 
wooden  compartment  in  the  middle  of  the  raft,  while  cannon  thun- 
dered salvos  from  both  shores,  and  the  shouts  of  great  armies 
drawn  up  on  both  banks  drowned  the  roar  of  artillery.  The  two 
persons  were  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  Alexander,  Emperor  of 
Russia,  and  the  history  of  the  time  tells  us  that  they  met  to  "ar- 
range the  destinies  of  mankind."  The  conference  lasted  but  two 
hours.  It  was  entirely  private  between  the  two  emperors,  and 
yet  it  was  fraught  with  consequences  momentous  to  millions.  It 
was  one  of  the  greatest  crises  of  human  history,  when  the  cur- 
rents of  power  that  govern  nations  take  new  directions  and  break 
over  the  bounds  and  barriers  of  ages.  But  the  designs  promul- 
gated by  Napoleon  and  Alexander  were  defeated. 

We  come  to  this  epochal  event  without  the  flare  of  trumpets 
or  the  roar  of  cannon.  We  come  in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of 
Peace  to  launch  a  Movement  momentous  to  millions  and  rich  in 
purposes  pertaining  to  the  destinies  of  mankind;  a  movement 
predicated  upon  success,  and  not,  like  the  plans  of  the  two  emper- 
ors, doomed  to  failure;  a  movement  as  clear  as  the  sun,  as  fair 
as  the  moon,  and  as  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners. 

The  great  Niagara  for  centuries  has  filled  the  eye  of  the  tour- 
ist with  wonder  and  admiration  next  akin  to  awe.  It  has  been 
a  world  of  wasted  power.     But  this  utilitarian  age  has  laid  the 


addresses:  welcome  and  response.  31 

hand  of  availability  upon  those  great  and  hitherto  untamed  forces 
and  has  decreed  that  the  world  and  mankind  shall  receive  a  rec- 
ompense from  this  hitherto  dormant  power.  Likewise,  the  Church 
has  discovered  in  its  laity  a  great  Niagara,  and  our  purpose  in 
coming  to  your  hospitable  town  is  to  launch  a  movement  that 
plans  to  organize  into  a  world  power  those  hitherto  untrained 
forces  that  mean  so  much  for  the  Church  and  that  have,  like  the 
waters  of  the  great  Niagara,  remained  in  a  large  sense  unbridled. 

When  we  are  properly  organized  we  propose  to  hang  our  ban- 
ner upon  the  outer  walls,  inscribed :  "Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give 
thee  the  heatlien  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth  for  thy  possession." 

At  the  arsenal  at  Woolwich  there  is  a  huge  magnet  with  double 
poles,  which  is  in  regular  use  for  hoisting  purposes.  You  look 
with  amazement  as  it  hoists  and  lowers  shells  and  guns  and  enor- 
mous armor  plates.  Immense  bodies  weighing  tons  are  raised 
easily  and  swung  in  place.  This  Movement  launched  to-night 
means  to  take  hold  of  the  great  body  of  laity  in  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  swing  them  into  place  in  this  great 
work  of  evangelizing  the  world. 

When  the  little  "yellow  men"  who  had  won  such  renown  at 
Port  Arthur,  fresh  from  the  scenes  of  desolation  and  the  impress 
of  glory  which  their  superb  deeds  had  won,  were  being  placed  in 
line  before  the  great  battle  of  Mukden,  with  victorious  voices 
they  shouted :  "Banzai !  Banzai !  Clear  the  way !  Clear  the  way ! 
We  be  from  Arthur !" 

Imbued  with  a  somewhat  similar  spirit,  we  Methodist  laymen 
want  to  spring  to  the  work  with  the  cry  of  "Banzai !  Banzai ! 
Clear  the  way  and  give  us  an  opportunity  of  aiding  in  the  great 
work  of  laying  the  world  as  a  trophy  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  and 
doing  cheerfully  and  prayerfully  our  part  to  hasten  the  time  when 

Every  kindred  and  every  tongue 

On  this  terrestrial  ball 
Will  bring  forth  the  royal  diadem 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

When  Michael  Angelo,  the  renowned  sculptor  of  all  ages,  came 
to  old  age,  he  was  stricken  with  blindness.  He  caused  the  lad 
who  led  him  to  carry  him  regularly  every  day  to  the  statue  of 
Torso  Belvidere,  where  he  would  sit  for  hours  while  he  studied 
those  beautiful  lines  with  his  finger  tips  and  while  his  sightless 


33  THE  AWAKENINa 

eyeballs  could  not  feast  upon  its  beauties.  Ever  and  anon  a  smile 
as  if  born  of  heaven  would  play  over  his  countenance.  His  ex- 
planation was  that  it  was  studying  those  beautiful  lines  in  his 
young  manhood  that  had  created  the  love  of  art  in  his  bosom. 
So  will  we  whose  faces  are  turned  to  the  setting  sun  and  whose 
heads  are  covered  with  the  snows  of  winter  that  never  melt  find 
strength  and  comfort  coming  here  in  the  evening  tide  of  our  lives 
to  aid  in  launching  a  Movement  that  means  so  much  to  the  Church 
and  the  world. 

Away  up  in  the  Arctic  country  the  nights  are  weeks  or  even 
months  in  length.  When  these  long  and  weary  nights  are  almost 
over,  a  beautiful  custom  prevails.  The  people  will  collect  on  a 
neighboring  hill  and  wait  for  the  longed-for  rising  of  the  sun. 
The  multitudes  grow  as  the  stars  fade  away  and  the  tokens  of 
the  coming  dawn  illumine  the  eastern  horizon.  When  the  first 
flood  of  golden  sunlight  sweeps  across  the  icy  plains,  the  assem- 
bled people  join  in  welcome  and  a  grand  chorus  of  song. 

Typifying  this  beautiful  custom  and  mindful  of  the  years  in 
which  the  great  power  now  being  developed  by  this  Laymen's 
Movement  has,  like  the  long  Arctic  night,  slept  unused  and  with- 
out profit  to  the  world  and  the  Church,  we  have  hurried  to  this 
beautiful  city  as  the  first  gray  of  the  dawning  betokens  the  com- 
ing of  the  glorious  day — ^the  first  flash  light  of  the  golden  sunlight 
that  proclaims  the  birth  of  the  new  day  in  the  life  of  the  Church — 
and  the  stars  of  doubt  and  hesitancy  are  fading  from  the  beautiful 
horizon,  to  raise  our  banners  and  shout : 

"Waft,  waft,  ye  winds,  the  story, 

And  you,  ye  waters,  roll. 
Till,  like  a  sea  of  glory, 

It  spreads  from  pole  to  pole; 
Till  o'er  our  ransomed  nature. 

The  Lamb  for  sinners  slain. 
Redeemer,  King,  Creator, 

In  bliss  returns  to  reign." 

In  conclusion,  my  dear  Mr.  Mayor,  in  the  name  of  the  five 
hundred  thousand  laymen  who  constitute  the  grand  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  we  gratefully 
appreciate  your  beautiful  and  cordial  welcome  extended  to  this 
Laymen's  Conference;  and  in  the  name  of  my  brother  laymen, 
through  you,  to  devoutly  thank  the  good  people  of  lovely,  hospita- 
ble Chattanooga.    [Applause.] 


IV. 

THE  LAYMEN'S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT 
—WHY  AND  HOW. 


A  hundred  years  ago,  under  the  haystack  at  Williamstown,  five  students 
held  a  prayer  meeting,  the  result  of  which  was  the  beginning  of  modern 
missionary  work  in  this  country.  There  were  but  seven  societies  iry  all 
the  world.  We  have  to-day  over  400  societies  interested  in  foreign  mis- 
sions, with  over  15,000  trained  missionaries,  92,000  native  helpers,  36,000 
stations  and  out-stations,  nearly  100  colleges  with  35,000  students,  and 
1,250,000  boys  and  girls  in  high  and  common  schools.  Christian  hospitals 
and  dispensaries  have  been  opened  among  the  non-Christian  nations,  and 
2,500,000  patients  were  ministered  to  last  year.  In  the  various  missionary 
presses  there  are  nearly  400,000,000  pages  printed  every  year.  The  United 
States  gave  last  year  nearly  $10,000,000  for  foreign  missionary  work,  and 
the  native  Christians  themselves  $1,300,000.  Inasmuch  as  a  day's  wage  in 
the  East  is  only  15  or  20  cents,  this  is  equivalent  in  our  currency  to  more 
than  ten  million  dollars. 

Considering  the  difficulties  at  the  start,  this  wonderful  success  is  one  of 
the  miracles  of  the  centuries.  Yet  great  as  this  work  has  been,  we  have 
to  acknowledge  that  it  has  been  done  by  a  small  minority  of  our  Church 
members.  It  is  believed  that  not  more  than  one  man  in  five  makes  any 
offering  worthy  of  himself  or  of  the  cause.  This  is  most  evident  when  we 
look  at  the  fact  that  the  average  gift  per  member  is  less  than  a  dollar  a 
year,  or  the  value  of  a  postage  stamp  a  week!  When  we  remember  how 
many  men  there  are  in  our  Churches  giving  $50,  $100,  and  many  of  them 
$1,000  a  year,  we  see  how  many  there  must  be  who  are  doing  absolutely 
nothing. 

(34). 


IV. 

THE  LAYMEN^S  MISSIONARY  MOVEMENT— WHY 
AND  HOW. 

SAMUEL  B.  CAPEN,  LL.D. 


Mr.  President,  I  thank  you  for  this  very 
kind  introduction,  and  I  am  very  glad,  men 
of  the  South,  to  look  into  your  faces  and 
discuss  with  you  this  great  question.  I'm 
sorry  that  I  was  late,  but  I  was  detained  in 
New  York,  as  some  of  you  may  know,  by 
a  great  meeting  in  Carnegie  Hall  in  the  in- 
rterests  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
[ment,  where  there  were  three  thousand  men 
present,  and  where  we  had  an  address  by  the 
Honorable  Secretary  Taft,  who  made  a 
splendid  talk,  coming  out  squarely  for  the  necessity  of  Christian 
missions  to  save  the  world.  Therefore  you  will  be  glad  to  have 
me  late,  I  am  sure,  bringing  a  message  like  this  from  the  great 
meeting  in  New  York. 

May  I  say  this  word  also?  For  I  am  profoundly  persuaded 
that,  year  after  year,  in  this  great  nation,  we  are  more  and  more 
to  depend  on  the  God-fearing  men  and  women,  the  home-loving 
people  in  this  Southland,  to  give  us  strength  and  that  help  to 
carry  us  through  the  crises  in  our  national  life. 

I  want  to  reverse  the  order  of  my  subject  this  morning,  if  I 
may  do  as  the  old  Hebrew  did,  and  read  from  right  to  left  in- 
stead of  left  to  right,  and  put  "The  Need"  first  and  "The  Plan" 
afterwards. 

A  hundred  years  ago,  under  the  haystack  at  Williamstown, 
five  students  held  a  prayer  meeting,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
beginning  of  modern  missionary  work  in  this  country.  There 
were  but  seven  societies  in  all  the  world.  We  have  to-day  over 
400  societies  interested  in  foreign  missions,  with  over  15,000 
trained  missionaries,  92,000  native  helpers,  36,000  stations  and 

(35) 


36  THE   AWAKENINa 

out-stations,  nearly  100  colleges  with  35,000  students,  and  i,- 
250,000  boys  and  girls  in  high  and  common  schools.  Christian 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  have  been  opened  among  the  non- 
Christian  nations,  and  2,500,000  patients  were  ministered  to  last 
year.  In  the  various  missionary  presses  there  are  nearly  400,- 
000,000  pages  printed  every  year.  The  United  States  gave  last 
year  nearly  $10,000,000  for  foreign  missionary  work,  and  the 
native  Christians  themselves  $1,300,000.  Inasmuch  as  a  day's 
wage  in  the  East  is  only  15  or  20  cents,  this  is  an  equivalent  in 
our  currency  to  more  than  ten  million  dollars. 

Considering  the  difficulties  at  the  start,  this  wonderful  success 
is  one  of  the  miracles  of  the  centuries.  Yet  great  as  this  work 
has  been,  we  have  to  acknowledge  that  it  has  been  done  by  a 
small  minority  of  our  Church  members.  It  is  believed  that  not 
more  than  one  man  in  five  makes  any  offering  worthy  of  himself 
or  of  the  cause.  This  is  most  evident  when  we  look  at  the  fact 
that  the  average  gift  per  member  is  less  than  a  dollar  a  year,  or 
the  value  of  a  postage  stamp  a  week !  When  we  remember  how 
many  men  there  are  in  our  Churches  giving  $50,  $100,  and  many 
of  them  $1,000  a  year,  we  see  how  many  there  must  be  who  are 
doing  absolutely  nothing. 

In  the  providence  of  God  a  new  Movement  has  been  started. 
A  little  more  than  a  year  ago  about  fifty  men  met  in  a  prayer 
meeting  in  the  city  of  New  York.  There  were  present  some  of 
the  leading  merchants  and  professional  men  in  that  city.  As 
a  result  of  that  prayer  meeting  it  was  voted  to  organize  this 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  and  it  has  been  heartily  ap- 
proved by  the  representatives  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada.  At  the  invitation  of  the  British 
Missionary  Societies,  six  of  our  men  went  to  London  last  May, 
and  there  has  been  organized  both  in  England  and  in  Scotland 
a  Movement  similar  in  every  respect  to  our  own.  Among  the 
prominent  men  who  cooperated  to  launch  the  Laymen's  Move- 
ment in  Great  Britain  were  men  like  Lord  Guthrie,  Lord  Kin- 
naird.  Lord  Overtoun,  and  the  Lord  Mayors  of  various  cities. 
All  over  our  country  and  Canada  men  have  gathered  together  in 
hearty  response,  and  our  Churches  have  been  stirred  upon  this 
subject  as  never  before.  The  literature  of  the  Movement  has 
been  in  great  demand,  over  75,000  copies  of  the  original  address 


LAYMEN^S   MISSIONARY   MOVEMENT — WHY   AND   HOW.  37 

having  been  distributed.  But  with  all  the  multiplicity  of  or- 
ganizations and  societies  in  our  modern  life,  it  is  a  most  natural 
question  to  ask:  "Why  is  this  new  Movement  started?  Is  it 
necessary  ?" 

I.  Success  Abroad. 

My  first  answer  is:  It  is  needed  because  of  the  success  of 
foreign  missionary  work.  A  short  time  ago  Carnegie  Hall, 
New  York,  was  filled  to  overflowing  to  hear  a  brave,  modest 
man  tell  the  story  of  his  wonderful  missionary  work  in  Labrador. 
He  is  worthy  of  hearty  support  and  of  all  the  praise  that  can 
possibly  be  bestowed  upon  him.  But  if  he  were  here,  he  would 
be  the  first  to  ask  us  to  recognize  that  he  is  but  one  of  thou- 
sands of  men  and  women  all  over  the  world  who  have  given 
up  quiet  and  comfortable  homes  and  have  gone  into  the  dark  and 
needy  places  of  the  world  in  doing  this  most  Christlike  mis- 
sionary work.  I  think  it  is  Bishop  Ridley  who  has  said  that 
it  is  not  missions  but  missionaries  that  are  the  miracle  of  our  age. 

A  few  years  ago  we  were  thinking  most  often  of  Japan ;  be- 
fore that,  of  India.  Now  we  are  thinking  of  China,  where 
changes  more  rapid  than  ever  before  have  come  to  a  great  na- 
tion. We  must  remember  always  that  every  third  or  fourth  man 
in  the  world  is  a  Chinaman ;  and  China,  therefore,  is  the  greatest 
numerically  of  the  non-Christian  powers.  Let  us  note  some  of 
the  changes  that  have  taken  place  recently : 

(a)  August  I,  1901,  the  Empress  Dowager  passed  a  decree 
that,  in  future,  examination  papers  of  students  should  be  upon 
Western  learning  instead  of  upon  what  Confucius  taught.  Here 
are  some  of  the  questions : 

Honan :  What  improvements  are  to  be  derived  from  the  study 
of  foreign  agriculture,  commerce,  and  postal  systems? 

Kiang-su  and  An-huei:  What  are  the  chief  ideas  underlying 
Austrian  and  German  prosperity?  How  do  foreigners  regulate 
the  press,  post  office,  commerce,  railways,  banks,  bank  notes, 
commercial  schools,  taxation?  and  how  do  they  get  faithful 
men  ?    Where  is  the  Caucasus,  and  how  does  Russia  rule  it  ? 

Kiang-si:  How  many  sciences,  theoretical  and  practical,  are 
there?  In  what  order  should  they  be  studied?  Explain  free 
trade  and  protection.     What  are  the  military  services  of  the 


38  THE   AWAKENINa 

world?  What  is  the  bearing  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  and  the  Monroe  Doctrine  on  the  Far  East? 
Wherein  lies  the  naval  supremacy  of  Great  Britain?  What  is 
the  bearing  of  the  Siberian  Railway  and  Nicaragua  Canal  on 
China  ? 

Shan-tung:  What  is  Herbert  Spencer's  philosophy  of  sociolo- 
gy? Define  the  relations  of  land,  labor,  and  capital.  How  best 
to  develop  the  resources  of  China  by  mines  and  railway?  How 
best  to  modify  our  civil  and  criminal  laws  to  regain  authority 
over  those  now  under  extraterritoriality  privileges?  How  best 
to  guard  land  and  sea  frontiers  from  the  advance  of  foreign 
powers  ? 

Fu-kien:  Which  Western  nations  have  paid  most  attention  to 
education,  and  what  is  the  result?  State  the  leading  features  of 
the  military  systems  of  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Russia,  and 
France.  Which  are  the  best  colonizers?  How  should  tea  and 
silk  be  properly  cultivated  ?  What  are  the  government,  industries, 
and  education  of  Switzerland,  which,  though  small,  is  independ- 
ent of  surrounding  great  powers? 

Kwang-tung  (Canton)  :  What  should  be  our  best  coinage — ■ 
gold,  silver,  and  copper  like  Western  countries,  or  what? 
How  could  the  workhouse  system  be  started  throughout  China? 
How  to  fortify  Kwang-tung  Province?  How  to  get  funds  and 
professors  for  the  new  education?  How  to  promote  Chinese 
international  commerce,  new  industries,  and  savings  banks  versus 
the  gambling  houses  of  China?  What  is  the  policy  of  Japan — 
only  following  other  nations  or  what?  How  to  choose  compe- 
tent diplomatic  men?  Why  does  China  feel  its  small  national 
debt  so  heavy,  while  England  and  France  with  far  greater  debts 
do  not  feel  it? 

Hu-peh:  State  the  educational  systems  of  Sparta  and  Athens. 
What  are  the  naval  strategic  points  of  Great  Britain,  and  which 
should  be  those  of  China?  Which  nation  has  the  best  system 
of  stamp  duty?  State  briefly  the  geological  ages  of  the  earth, 
and  the  bronze  and  iron  ages.  Trace  the  origin  of  Eg>'ptian, 
Babylonian,  and  Chinese  writings. 

(b)  There  are  to-day  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  newspapers 
in  China,  one  of  them  edited  by  a  woman. 


LAYMEN  S    MISSIONARY   MOVEMENT — WHY   AND  HOW.  39 

(c)  Ten  years  ago  there  were  no  native  post  offices;  now 
there  are  i,8oo. 

(d)  The  Viceroy  of  the  great  province  of  Chi-li  has  ordered 
the  schools  opened  in  their  temples  if  necessary.  He  has  said 
that  the  white  man  was  in  some  ways  superior  to  them,  and  he 
has  felt  that  the  difference  must  be  because  of  his  book,  and 
therefore  all  through  the  schools  of  that  great  province  the 
pupils  are  ordered  to  study  the  Bible. 

(e)  Officeholders  have  been  forbidden  to  use  opium.  That 
we  may  understand  what  this  means,  it  is  as  far-reaching  in  its 
influence  as  if  President  Roosevelt  should  forbid  our  officials  to 
use  liquor. 

(/)  There  is  an  aroused  interest  in  China  with  regard  to  the 
education  of  women,  which  has  been  one  of  the  weakest  points 
in  the  Chinese  Empire, 

We  think  of  Turkey  as  the  most  difficult  mission  in  the  world 
because  of  Mohammedanism.  Recently  one  of  our  great  diplo- 
mats and  a  high  government  official  told  me  that  he  wanted  us 
to  go  on  putting  in  our  schools  and  our  colleges,  for,  as  he  re- 
marked, "there  will  be  a  break-up  in  Turkey  before  long,  and 
you  gentlemen  then  will  be  on  top  with  the  work  you  have 
done."  This  simply  confirms  what  an  officer  of  the  Sultan  said 
a  few  years  ago:  "What  Dr.  Hamlin  is  silently  doing  with  his 
Robert  College  and  the  American  missionary  with  his  theolog- 
ical seminaries  and  schools  and  books,  all  the  diplomats  of 
Europe  united  cannot  overbalance."  As  is  well  understood, 
Bulgaria  was  created  by  the  graduates  of  Robert  College. 

Certainly  the  success  of  foreign  missionary  work  during  the 
last  seventy-five  years,  under  the  leadership  of  these  self-deny- 
ing men  and  women,  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  our  day.  They 
have  helped  to  change  the  course  of  history  and  alter  the  map 
of  the  world.  The  success  of  this  work  across  the  sea  has  been 
so  great  that  it  has  been  impossible  for  our  Mission  Boards, 
with  their  present  resources,  to  do  what  is  waiting  to  be  done. 
This  success  has  made  this  new  Movement  a  necessity. 

II.  Success  at  Home. 

Success  in  many  ways  in  the  home  field  has  made  this  new 
Movement  both  a  possibility  and  a  necessity. 


40  THE  AWAKENING. 

(a)  The  Boards  of  all  our  denominations  are  splendidly  or- 
ganized and  have  the  entire  confidence  of  our  Churches.  They 
have  a  strong  financial  standing  and  their  drafts  have  place  equal 
with  those  of  our  best  bankers  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 
Their  officers  are  "dead  in  earnest,"  with  the  emphasis  on  the 
word  earnest  and  not  on  the  word  dead. 

(b)  These  Mission  Boards  have  won  to  a  large  degree  the 
moral  support  of  our  government.  I  can  speak  for  the  American 
Board,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  be  true  of  the  other  Boards,  that 
the  correspondence  with  the  State  Department  at  Washington 
is  always  sympathetic.  At  the  time  of  the  Chinese  war  Secre- 
tary Hay,  in  his  correspondence  with  us,  used  the  words  "our 
missionaries  in  China,"  identifying  our  men  with  the  govern- 
ment in  that  way.  A  short  time  ago  twenty-three  men  visited 
Washington  and  had  a  conference  with  President  Roosevelt  and 
Secretary  Hay  with  regard  to  the  conditions  of  our  work  in 
Turkey,  and  I  was  able  to  say  in  behalf  of  the  American  Board 
that  our  missionaries  have  worked  eighty  years  in  Turkey,  under 
the  most  trying  circumstances,  and  all  their  work  has  been  done 
within  the  law  and  no  one  has  ever  been  found  to  be  disloyal. 
All  letters  received  from  the  Department  show  the  same  spirit 
of  interest  in  our  work. 

(c)  There  is  a  new  constituency  here  at  home  among  our 
young  people  ready  for  greater  things.  Christian  Endeavor 
Societies  and  Epworth  Leagues  have  been  training  the  young 
people  to  be  interested  in  missions.  The  Student  Volunteer 
Movement  has  been  firing  the  young  men  and  women  in  our  col- 
leges with  a  passion  to  do  missionary  work.  The  Young  Peo- 
ple's Missionary  Movement  in  its  educational  work  has  been 
equally  successful  in  arousing  our  young  men  and  women  to 
recognize  the  claims  of  thi^  work  upon  them,  and  that  if  they 
cannot  go  to  the  front  in  person  they  must  help  support  those 
who  do.  Yale  and  Oberlin  both  have  their  missions  in  China, 
Harvard  has  its  work  in  India,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
has  also  its  medical  mission  in  China.  There  is  an  entirely  new 
conception  of  missionary  work  in  the  current  thought  of  to-day. 
These  two  quotations  from  President  Endicott  Peabody,  at  the 
head  of  the  celebrated  boys'  school  at  Groton,  illustrate  what  I 
mean:  "The  work  of  missions  is  the  grandest  in  the  world,  and 


LAYMEN'S   MISSIONARY   MOVEMENT — WHY  A«ND   HOW.  4I 

missionaries  are  the  heroes  of  our  times."  And  again:  "Boys, 
I  would  rather  you  would  be  foreign  missionaries  than  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States." 

III.  The  Opportunity. 

A  third  reason  for  this  new  Movement  is  the  opportunity. 

(a)  There  has  been  a  practical  shrinkage  in  the  size  of  the 
world  during  the  past  few  years,  and  the  world  is  wide  open  as 
never  before.  Steam  and  the  cable  have  almost  annihilated  time 
and  distance.  Measured  by  the  time  required  to  reach  various 
foreign  missionary  stations,  the  world  is  only  about  one-tenth  as 
large  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago.  When  the  first  missionaries 
went  to  Hawaii,  by  sailing  vessel  around  Cape  Horn,  it  was  over 
a  year  before  we  heard  in  Boston  of  their  safe  arrival.  Now, 
taking  into  account  the  five  hours'  difference  in  time,  it  is  possi- 
ble to  get  a  message  there  before  it  starts. 

(b)  Recent  years  have  brought  a  great  change  in  the  United 
States  as  a  world  power.  The  battle  at  Manila  Bay,  with  the  de- 
struction of  Cervera's  fleet  and  all  that  has  grown  out  of  it,  has 
changed  the  whole  diplomatic  power  of  this  nation  in  the  world. 
John  Bright  during  our  Civil  War,  over  forty  years  ago,  de- 
clared that  if  the  United  States  of  America  should  survive  fifty 
years  there  would  not  be  a  gun  fired  in  the  world  without  the 
permission  of  this  nation.  This  has  not  become  literally  true, 
but  certainly  when  the  nations  of  the  world  threatened  to  divide 
up  China  it  was  Mr.  Hay  who  declared  that  there  must  be  an 
*'open  door,"  and  there  was  an  "open  door."  It  was  the  influ- 
ence of  this  nation  that  brought  to  an  end  the  war  between  Japan 
and  Russia.  It  is  the  influence  of  this  nation  that  has  made  the 
Hague  Conferences  a  success. 

It  is  Secretary  Root  whose  visit  to  the  South  American  re- 
publics with  his  splendid  message  of  brotherhood  has  given  new 
prestige  to  our  republic.  Gladstone  declared  that  the  United 
States  was  to  be  the  great  servant  among  the  nations.  And  what 
higher  honor  could  come  to  us  than  this?  for  the  Master  taught 
us  nineteen  centuries  ago  that  greatness  consists  in  service. 

How  have  we  obtained  this  proud  position?  More  than  any- 
thing else,  I  believe,  because  of  our  missionary  work.  Our  rep- 
resentatives have  gone  into  all  the  world.    Many  of  them  have 


42  THE   AWAKENING. 

been  statesmen  as  well  as  missionaries.  Japan  is  an  illustration 
of  the  uplift  that  is  to  come  to  all  nations  when  Christianity  en- 
ters. Our  missionaries  have  represented  a  nation  that  has  treat- 
ed others  for  the  most  part  with  absolute  justice.  We  have  not 
wanted  their  territory.  Our  errand  among  them  is  of  peace  and 
good  will. 

These  men,  going  to  and  fro,  have  been  like  the  web  of  the 
weaver's  shuttle,  binding  the  nations  together  and  giving  our 
nation  prestige  and  honor  everywhere.  The  splendid  diplomacy 
of  the  past  few  years  and  the  golden  rule  policy  of  Secretary 
Hay,  carried  on  by  Secretary  Root,  have  been  made  possible  by 
the  influences  which  were  started  by  the  men  of  the  Haystack 
and  carried  on  by  our  Churches  of  every  name. 

(c)  As  a  further  thought  in  connection  with  the  greatness  of 
the  present  opportunity,  the  great  missionary  movement  that 
started  at  the  Haystack  Prayer  Meeting  has  done  more  than 
anything  to  break  down  barriers  among  nations  and  federate 
the  world  together.  The  missionary  has  gone  everywhere  with 
his  message  of  love  and  good  will.  He  has  not  only  planted 
the  Church,  but  the  school  and  the  press  and  the  hospital.  He 
has  taught  the  non-Christian  nations  not  only  of  the  one  Father, 
but  of  human  brotherhood.  Even  what  we  call  calamities  have 
enlarged  the  opportunity  and  made  the  cross  stand  out  more 
clearly. 

The  Armenian  massacres  called  universal  attention  to  the  great 
work  going  on  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  the  fidelity  of  the 
missionaries  won  the  admiration  of  the  world.  The  famine  in 
India  helped  to  break  down  caste  and  show  the  people  of  India, 
as  we  fed  them,  the  infinite  superiority  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 
The  moral  support  which  our  people  gave  to  Japan  in  her  recent 
war  with  Russia  won  the  heart  of  that  nation.  But  it  was  be- 
cause the  missionaries  had  entered  these  nations  and  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  Christian  civilization  that  such  work  could  be 
done  and  such  results  follow. 

Furthermore,  as  our  Mission  Boards  have  been  planting  ev- 
erywhere the  Christian  schools  and  colleges,  the  student  world, 
through  the  Intercollegiate  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Student  Volun- 
teer Movement,  is  being  bound  more  and  more  closely  together. 
The  English  language,  which  at  the  time  of  the  Haystack  Prayer 


laymen's    missionary   movement — WHY   AND   HOW.  43 

Meeting  was  spoken  by  the  comparatively  few  peoples  of  the 
United  States  and  England,  is  now  becoming  the  language  of 
students  everywhere.  In  most  of  the  nations  where  our  missiona- 
ries work  there  is  very  little  printed  in  the  native  tongue,  and  the 
student  necessarily  looks  for  his  highest  thoughts  to  English  books, 
permeated  as  they  are  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  The  English 
language  is  becoming  more  and  more  the  language  of  the  world. 
Old  barriers  are  down  in  the  student  world,  and  there  is  a  oneness 
in  it  as  never  before. 

The  steady  sweep  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  with  its  love  of 
freedom,  and  the  growing  universality  of  the  English  language, 
and  the  Christianity  which  is  the  basis  of  it  all,  are  everywhere 
undermining  false  religions,  breaking  down  barriers,  and  carry- 
ing everything  before  it.  The  world  is  becoming  one  around 
the  Cross,  which  the  men  of  the  Haystack  and  their  successors 
carried  out  and  planted  everywhere.  All  this  has  given  new 
prestige  and  opportunity  to  American  missionaries. 

(d)  We  must  also  recognize  the  accelerating  pozver  in  all  our 
foreign  missionary  work.  There  has  recently  been  held  in  the 
city  of  Shanghai,  China,  the  centenary  meeting  recognizing  the 
beginning  of  Morrison's  labors  in  China.  But  it  will  be  well  for 
us  to  remember  that  Morrison  labored  twenty-five  years  in  the 
Chinese  Empire  and  then  had  less  than  half  a  dozen  converts. 
In  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  American  Board's  work  in  Bom- 
bay more  than  one  missionary  died  for  each  convert.  Now  we 
know  how  the  work  is  going  on  in  these  countries  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  The  missionary  converts  in  Korea  have  doubled  nine 
times  in  seventeen  years. 

We  have  been  doing  in  the  first  century  the  slowest  part  of  the 
work,  for  we  have  been  putting  in  the  foundations.  It  is  like 
erecting  one  of  our  great  business  buildings.  You  dig  down  till 
you  get  to  solid  rock,  and  it  sometimes  seems  as  though  this 
foundation  work  never  would  get  up  to  the  street  level;  but  by 
and  by  this  point  is  reached,  then  the  floor  is  laid,  and  then  see 
how  rapidly  the  rest  of  the  work  goes  on.  There  is  a  gang  of 
men  on  the  rear,  one  on  each  side,  and  one  on  the  front;  and 
almost  by  magic  it  seems  the  building  is  being  constructed.  Our 
Mission  Boards  have  been  doing  the  slow  part  of  the  work,  es- 
tablishing the  Churches,  colleges,  schools,  hospitals,  printing  and 


44  THE  AWAKENING. 

industrial  plants;  but  that  work  is  done  now  and  we  want  to 
build  the  superstructure  at  a  far  more  rapid  pace.  We  do  not 
want  to  pass  this  work  over  to  others,  certainly  not  to  our  chil- 
dren.   But  let  it  be  our  piece  of  work  and  let  us  do  it  now. 

IV.  Indifference  of  the  Many. 

A  fourth  necessity  for  this  new  Movement  is  the  lack  of  in- 
terest of  so  many  in  our  Churches  commensurate  with  the  im- 
portance of  this  work.  Notwithstanding  its  great  success,  and 
in  the  face  of  these  wonderful  opportunities  everywhere,  we  have 
to  confess  that  the  majority  of  our  Church  members  are  not  yet 
deeply  interested  in  foreign  missions,  and,  as  has  already  been 
said,  the  work  is  really  being  supported  by  a  small  proportion  of 
our  Church  members.  When  we  remember  that  the  total  amount 
of  the  gifts  for  foreign  missions  does  not  average  one-third  of 
a  cent  per  day  for  our  members,  there  is  no  need  of  further 
argument.    This  pitiable  fact  is  its  own  argument. 

Here,  then,  is  an  especial  reason  for  this  new  Movement.  We 
want  to  reenforce  the  splendid  work  now  being  carried  on  by 
this  minority.  We  want  to  be  a  dynamo  to  give  added  force  to 
the  existing  machinery.  We  want  to  create,  if  possible,  a  tre- 
mendous energy  which  shall  be  felt  throughout  our  Churches. 
We  believe  it  is  possible  to  reach  the  majority  of  the  men  of 
the  Church  and  interest  them  as  never  before  in  this  the  greatest 
work  in  the  world.  I  am  sure  we  must  all  admit  that  it  is  wrong 
to  have  our  foreign  missionary  work  any  longer  represent  the 
work  of  the  minority.  The  solemn  obligation  to  evangelize  the 
world  rests  upon  every  Christian  man  alike  to  the  extent  of  his 
ability  and  opportunity.  He  is  bound  either  to  go  in  person  or 
to  help  send  some  one  else.  And  we  want  to  do  this  now.  There 
is  money  enough  in  the  hands  of  the  membership  of  our  Church- 
es to  supply  every  need  of  men  and  buildings  and  equipment, 
and  with  the  blessing  of  God  make  it  possible  to  evangelize  the 
world  in  this  generation,  if  we  only  will. 

V.  The  Place  of  the  Greatest  Need. 

Another  reason  for  this  new  Movement  is  because  of  the  fact 
that  the  non-Christian  nations  are  in  the  greatest  need.  It  is  a 
reproach  to  the  Protestant  Christians  of  the  United  States  that 


laymen's    missionary   movement WHY   AND   HOW.  45 

they  are  giving,  to  help  furnish  the  gospel  to  the  500,000,000 
people  for  which  they  are  responsible  in  non-Christian  countries, 
only  about  nine  million  dollars  annually,  or  less  than  two  cents 
for  each  person.  No  wonder  the  man  of  the  world  smiles  at  the 
pitiably  small  expression  of  our  interest  in  these  people  in  com- 
parison with  what  we  spend  upon  ourselves.  We  want  to  help 
remove  this  reproach  by  centering  our  thoughts  upon  the  nations 
who  have  hardly  heard  yet  that  there  is  a  Christ,  who  are  plead- 
ing for  Christian  education  and  Christian  institutions,  and  who 
have  had  no  fair  chance.  We  are  not  unfamiliar  with  the  great- 
ness of  the  needs  at  home  and  of  the  problems  which  immigra- 
tion especially  is  thrusting  upon  us.  It  seems  to  us  that  there 
is  another  cry  across  the  sea  which  is  much  louder  and  more  im- 
perative. We  hear  the  cry  from  India,  with  its  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions  of  women  (nearly  twice  the  whole  population  of 
the  United  States)  living  in  a  nation  which  believes  in  the 
sacredness  of  the  cow  and  the  degradation  of  women.  In  that 
part  of  India  where  Mohammedanism  has  entered  forty  millions 
of  women  are  shut  up  in  the  zenanas,  bare  and  filthy;  behind 
curtains  they  spend  their  whole  lives;  girls  are  despised  when 
born,  bartered  away  to  some  unknown  husband,  neglected  in  sick- 
ness, live  without  hope,  and  die  in  the  darkest  despair.  Then 
there  are  the  millions  of  Hindu  widows,  some  of  them  only  eight 
or  ten  years  of  age.  The  cry  of  distress  is  fearful.  The  follow- 
ing is  an  extract  from  a  letter  received  a  few  days  ago  from 
one  of  my  children  in  India:  "I  do  wish  the  people  at  home 
could  contrast  a  Christian  girls'  school  in  Madura  with  the 
heathen  methods  of  bringing  up  the  girls,  and  the  contrast  would 
seem  nothing  less  than  a  miracle  of  miracles.  A  Christian  girls' 
boarding  school  and  the  life  of  temple  girls  and  child  wives  are 
as  far  apart  and  as  different  from  each  other  as  heaven  and  hell. 
If  people  at  home  could  only  see  what  it  means  to  educate  girls 
in  this  country,  I  am  sure  they  would  give  money  by  the  millions 
instead  of  by  the  coppers." 

Then  there  is  the  cry  of  China.  Never  perhaps  in  the  history 
of  the  world  has  there  been  such  a  revolution  in  a  great  nation; 
she  has  aroused  from  her  slumber  of  centuries  and  is  facing  the 
light.  Her  demand  for  Christian  teachers  is  not  only  insistent, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  answer  but  a  very  small  percentage  of  the 


46  THE   AWAKENING. 

calls  that  come.  We  can  mold  China  now  for  Christ,  for  the 
people  are  receptive — ten  years  hence  it  may  be  too  late. 

We  all  rejoice  in  the  wonderful  progress  of  Japan,  as  she  has 
taken  her  place  now  among  the  great  nations  of  the  earth.  We 
rejoice  in  the  progress  that  Christianity  has  made  there  during 
the  past  few  years.  But  there  is  only  one  adult  Christian  as 
yet  to  every  thousand  of  the  population,  and  these  are  massed 
partially  in  evangelistic  centers,  while  thirty  millions  of  that 
nation  have  heard  of  Christianity  only  in  the  most  general  way. 
Every  word  that  comes  from  Japan  tells  us  how  eager  she  is  to 
hear  the  message  of  the  truth. 

For  the  80,000,000  of  people  in  the  United  States  we  have 
150,122  Protestant  ministers  and  20,000,000  members  of  Prot- 
estant Churches.  In  the  fields  occupied  by  the  missionaries  of 
this  country,  containing  500,000,000  of  people,  how  few  as  yet 
the  missionaries  and  helpers  are!  Including  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States,  there  is  one  ordained  minister  for  every 
546  persons,  and  in  the  non-Christian  world  one  ordained  minis- 
ter for  every  183,000  people.  In  the  empire  of  China  there  is 
but  one  ordained  pastor  for  every  267,000  persons. 

To  make  this  need  still  more  clear,  if  possible,  let  us  narrow 
our  vision.  Take  the  single  State  of  Massachusetts,  with  its 
thousands  of  churches,  its  colleges  and  academies,  and  all  its 
various  institutions  of  philanthropy ;  yet  it  has  a  population  of 
but  little  over  three  millions.  In  one  American  Board  field  in 
China  we  have  two  districts  with  5,500,000  people,  or  nearly 
double  the  population  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  and  with 
but  nine  white  missionaries  and  a  few  native  helpers. 

But  narrow  it  still  more.  Take  the  city  of  Boston,  with  its 
600,000  people.  What  should  we  say  if  all  the  religious,  educa- 
tional, and  hospital  work  were  overlooked  by  four  men  with  per- 
haps fifty  helpers  just  out  of  heathenism  ?  And  yet  that  is  a  fair 
illustration  of  conditions  as  they  exist,  on  an  average,  in  our 
field  across  the  sea. 

In  heathen  lands  at  the  present  time  there  is  one  medical  mis- 
sionary to  every  2,500,000  people.  In  the  United  States  to  the 
same  number  of  people  there  are  4,000  physicians.  On  the  basis 
that  now  exists  in  the  non-Christian  countries  there  would  be 
two  physicians  for  the  whole  of  New  England  and  thirty-two 


laymen's   missionary   movement WHY   AND   HOW.  4/ 

in  the  whole  United  States.  There  are  over  one  hundred  and 
fifty  hospitals  alone  in  the  city  of  New  York.  When  we  re- 
member the  awful  physical  suffering  which  exists  across  the 
sea,  is  it  not  right  for  us  to  be  in  earnest  to  even  up  conditions 
and  to  see  that  the  sufferers  in  non-Christian  countries  have  a 
fairer  chance? 

And  one  of  the  best  features  of  all  this  is  that  it  will  help 
the  work  at  home.  Jacob  Riis's  oft-quoted  saying  is  absolutely 
true*  "Every  dollar  contributed  to  foreign  missions  releases  ten 
dollars'  worth  of  energy  for  dealing  with  the  tasks  at  our  own 
doors."  The  history  of  the  Church  in  Great  Britain  and  in 
this  country  has  proved  universally  true:  that  wherever  there  is 
a  Church  with  a  broad  vision  and  interested  in  the  work  of 
foreign  missions  it  is  blessed  in  its  own  work  at  home.  There 
is  money  and  to  spare  for  all  the  needs  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
So  long  as  our  Church  members,  on  the  average,  have  been 
giving  for  real  missionary  work  in  their  own  Churches  at  home 
and  abroad  only  about  four  cents  a  week,  or  the  value  of  two 
postage  stamps,  there  is  no  immediate  danger  of  our  Churches 
being  impoverished  by  the  appeal  that  is  now  being  made  for 
larger  things. 

VI.  What  the  Plan  Is  Not. 

Before  explaining  what  we  hope  to  do,  and  to  prevent  any 
possible  misunderstanding,  let  me  say  that  there  will  be  no  at- 
tempt on  our  part  to  duplicate  what  is  already  being  done.  We 
are  not  starting  a  new  missionary  board  to  collect  funds  or  to 
administer  them.  It  is  not  in  our  thought  to  raise  up  or  to  send 
out  missionaries.  It  is  not  an  interdenominational  movement 
which  plans  to  work  outside  the  regular  denominational  lines 
and  make  a  new  missionary  brotherhood  independent  of  those 
already  established. 

VII.  What  the  Plan  Is. 

What  exactly  do  we  hope  to  do  ? 

First,  we  already  have  a  General  Committee  of  one  hundred 
men,  made  up  of  representatives  of  various  denominations  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  It  is  an  interdenominational  federa- 
tion organized  to  do  the  greatest  possible  work  and  to  do  it  quick- 


48  THE   AWAKENING. 

ly.  It  has  an  Executive  Committee  of  fifteen  men,  two  of  them 
from  Canada,  with  monthly  meetings  in  New  York. 

Second.  In  cooperation  with  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment it  is  urged  that  in  all  the  great  cities  there  should  be  or- 
ganized at  once  interdenominational  cooperating  committees  to 
promote  an  aggressive  and  adequate  missionary  policy  in  all  the 
Churches  in  their  district. 

Third.  This  Interdenominational  Cooperating  Committee  should 
plan  to  secure  a  group  of  key  men  in  each  local  Church,  who 
shall  be  pledged  to  care  for  foreign  missionary  interests,  work- 
ing always  in  harmony  with  pastors  and  Church  committees. 

Fourth.  Let  these  key  men,  in  parlor  and  dining  room  con- 
ferences, endeavor  to  reach  all  the  men  in  their  own  local 
Churches.  We  want  what  has  been  called  "applied  person- 
ality." 

Every  Church  should  select  a  committee  of  from  five  to  ten 
men,  who  would  sit  down  together,  look  at  this  missionary  work 
in  the  large,  get  fired  with  it,  and  then  divide  up  the  men  of  the 
Church,  calling  upon  them  or  writing  them  letters  and  bringing 
the  subject  into  the  Church  meetings  for  discussion.  By  so  do- 
ing we  could  increase  our  gifts  so  much  that  we  could  revolu- 
tionize the  world.  Not  only  could  we  install  new  machinery,  but 
the  machinery  that  is  now  working  at  half  time,  and  often  creak- 
ing badly,  would  be  oiled  and  hum  with  new  life. 

Fifth.  In  doing  this  personal  work  an  endeavor  should  be 
made  to  secure  as  many  men  as  possible  to  subscribe  to  the 
Declaration  Card  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement: 

Believing  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  it  is  my  purpose  to  pray, 
to  give,  to  study,  and  to  work,  as  God  may  give  me  oppor- 
tunity, that  the  Church  of  this  generation  may  obey  this 
command. 

Sixth.  A  further  endeavor  should  be  made  to  secure  from  all 
the  men  in  all  our  Churches  definite  pledges  of  money  worthy  of 
the  present-day  opportunities  and  of  the  Master  whom  we  serve. 

Seventh.  We  believe  that  it  will  be  possible  to  reach  and 
utilize  existing  Church  clubs,  many  of  which  are  organized 
simply  for  social  purposes.  What  the  men  need  to-day  is  some- 
thing that  calls  for  service. 


laymen's    missionary   movement WHY   AND   HOW.  49 

Eighth.  We  have  already  commissioned  more  than  fifty  busi- 
ness and  professional  men,  who  are  visiting-,  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, the  various  mission  stations  of  the  world,  seeing  for  them- 
selves what  is  being  done,  and  are  reporting  one  by  one  their 
conclusions.  We  believe  that  such  a  report  will  do  much  to  re- 
move the  skepticism  which  now  so  ignorantly  exists  with  re- 
gard to  foreign  missionary  work. 

There  is  no  lack  of  money,  for  whenever  there  is  an  appeal 
for  humanity,  a  flood  in  Texas,  a  volcanic  eruption  in  the  West 
Indies,  or  an  earthquake  in  San  Francisco,  the  result  is  always 
the  same — generous  gifts  from  rich  and  poor  alike.  If  we  can 
only  make  real  to  our  Churches  at  home  the  desperate  need  of 
our  brothers  across  the  sea,  who  are  groping  in  the  dark  with  no 
knowledge  of  the  true  God,  then  there  will  be  money  enough  to 
properly  support  our  missionary  work.  We  believe  the  report 
of  this  commission  will  greatly  help  to  set  this  great  need  before 
our  people  so  that  they  will  respond.  Furthermore,  the  value 
to  the  Orient  of  the  coming  of  our  leading  Christian  men,  as 
any  one  can  see,  will  be  very  great. 

VIII.  Plan  the  Work  and  Work  the  Plan. 

The  whole  plan,  as  you  have  already  discovered  I  am  sure,  is 
the  getting  together  of  all  our  forces  for  this  great  work.  We 
want  to  plan  the  work  and  then  work  the  plan.  We  often  say 
that  we  "have  been  playing  at  missions."  But,  as  has  been  point- 
ed out  by  General  Weaver,  we  have  not  even  been  doing  this, 
for  we  have  not  even  done  "team  work."  This  is  what  we  are 
hoping  to  do  now.  "Together"  is  the  twentieth  century  word. 
We  want  to  organize  our  Churches  as  never  before  for  larger 
giving,  to  pour  in  the  money  and  call  out  the  reserves  for  the 
death  grapple  with  false  religions  and  superstitions. 

IX.  Movement  Essential. 

We  are  persuaded  that  this  Movement  is  essential  because  we 
are  to  cover  a  ground  which  has  not  been  adequately  done  be- 
fore. We  are  not  duplicating  the  work  of  others.  The  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  has  to  do  with  providing  the  missionaries. 
The  Young  People's  Movement  has  to  do  with  the  missionary 
education  and  training  of  the  men  and  women.  The  Mission 
4 


50  THE   AWAKENING. 

Boards  are  admirably  equipped  for  the  work  of  adniinistraiion. 
The  purpose  of  this  new  Movement  is  to  furnish  more  rapidly 
the  money,  and  thereby  help  to  push  the  work  all  along  the  line. 
This  money  can  be  transmuted  into  power  and  made  to  do  its 
work  thousands  of  miles  away.  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  quote 
a  sentence  from  Mr.  Speer,  while  we  "cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon,  we  can  serve  God  with  mammon." 

There  are  some  who  may  remember  Hon.  Alpheus  Hardy,  one 
of  the  leading  merchants  of  Boston  a  generation  ago,  and  for  a 
long  time  Chairman  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board.  When  a  young  man  he  had  it  in  mind  to  be  a 
minister;  but,  his  eyes  failing  him,  he  was  compelled  to  give  up 
his  study.  For  a  long  time  he  was  in  trouble.  Finally  a  vision 
came  to  him:  "I  will  go  into  business  and  make  money  and  let 
that  be  my  missionary  work."  The  story  of  what  he  did  for 
Joseph  Neesima,  the  founder  of  the  Doshisha,  is  one  illustration 
of  what  Mr.  Hardy  did  with  his  money.  What  he  did,  others 
perhaps  in  this  audience  are  doing.  But  we  want  to  increase  the 
number. 

Years  ago  there  was  a  young  man  in  Boston  who  was  so 
stirred  by  a  missionary  address  that  he  gave  himself  to  mis- 
sionary work.  He  had  no  ability  to  teach  or  to  preach,  but  he 
became  a  missionary  all  the  same.  He  lived  frugally,  and  out 
of  an  income  of  $1,500  he  gave  away  each  year  more  than  $1,000, 
so  that  for  many  years  he  had  his  own  missionary  representing 
him  at  the  front.  We  may  not  include  that  man's  name  in  the 
missionary  roll,  but  he  had  his  partner  there,  and  methinks  the 
Master  will  recognize  the  oneness  of  the  work. 

David  Livingstone,  the  night  before  leaving  home,  talked  far 
into  the  night  about  the  prospects  of  the  kingdom.  His  father 
and  he  agreed  that  "the  time  would  come  when  rich  men  would 
think  it  an  honor  to  support  whole  stations  of  missionaries,  in- 
stead of  spending  their  money  on  hounds  and  horses."  Has  not 
that  time  now  come?  We  must  lay  this  great  work  more  and 
more  upon  the  consciences  of  our  men  of  wealth  and  make  it  as 
easy  and  natural  for  the  many  to  give  as  some  are  doing  now. 
We  must  be  equally  in  earnest  to  reach  those  who  have  less  to 
give  that  all  may  be  partners  together.  Then  there  will  be  no 
financial  problems  to  vex  and  to  hinder. 


laymen's    missionary    movement WHY   AND   HOW.  5 1 

The  Haystack  Prayer  Meeting  a  hundred  years  ago  helped  to 
save  our  nation  from  narrow  provincialism.  This  new  Move- 
ment, we  believe,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  will  help  to  save  our 
nation  from  materialism. 

For  our  own  honor  as  Christian  men,  for  the  sake  of  the  men 
and  women  who  represent  us  at  the  front  and  who  are  breaking 
down  under  their  burdens,  for  Christ's  sake,  whose  we  are  and 
whom  we  serve,  let  us  together  enter  upon  this  final  struggle 
to  conquer  the  world.  Brother  men,  let  us  together  help  quickly 
to  lift  the  cross  higher  and  higher,  that  it  may  shine  brighter  and 
clearer  in  all  the  nations. 


V. 
A  WORLD  CAMPAIGN  FOR  MISSIONS. 


I  was  reminded  very  vividly,  as  some  of  the  Chattanooga  Committee 
took  me  out  through  Chickamauga  Park,  over  this  historic  battle  ground, 
of  a  far  greater  sacrifice  that  was  made  by  our  States  and  our  homes  a 
generation  ago.  From  the  State  of  Illinois,  one  soldier  out  of  every 
seven  of  the  entire  population  went  to  the  front;  from  the  State  of  Kan- 
sas, one  out  of  every  six;  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  one  out  of 
every  five;  from  the  State  of  Louisiana,  one  out  of  every  four;  from  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  20,000  more  soldiers  went  to  the  front  than  tliey 
had  voters  in  the  State.  That  is  the  kind  of  sacrifice  that  a  nation  will 
make  when  it  is  desperately  in  earnest.  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that 
if  the  Church  of  Christ  became  in  earnest  about  evangelizing  the  world  it 
would  not  give  one  of  its  sons  or  daughters  out  of  every  1,000  of  its  mem- 
bership in  order  that  the  message  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  may  be  heralded 
around  the  world? 

I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  inscription  on  the  Georgia  monument 
this  afternoon:  "To  the  lasting  memory  of  all  her  sons  who  fought  on 
this  field — those  who  fought  and  lived,  and  those  who  fought  and  died; 
those  who  gave  much,  and  those  who  gave  all — Georgia  erects  this  monu- 
ment." That's  the  kind  of  spirit  with  which  we  must  confront  this  great 
world  problem — ^those  who  are  willing  to  give  much  and  those  who  are 
willing  to  give  all.  The  Senator  who  was  with  us  this  afternoon  said: 
"There  is  not  any  recognition  there  of  those  who  gave  only  a  little."  And 
in  the  last  great  rounding  up  that  is  coming  yonder  in  the  future  there 
will  be  recognition  that  you  and  I  will  desire — only  for  those  who  have 
given  much  or  who  have  given  all.  And  I  believe  our  reward  and  happi- 
ness, in  the  presence  of  our  King,  will  be  largely  in  proportion  as  we  have 
given  to  his  service  and  glory. 

(54) 


V. 


A  WORLD  CAMPAIGN  FOR  MISSIONS. 


J.    CAMPBELL   WHITE. 


There  are  two  theories  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church :  One  is  that  it  is  a  fort,  and 
its  members  guards,  and  their  chief  duty 
is  to  hold  the  fort  and  keep  the  forces  of 
evil  from  making  any  fresh  encroach- 
ments. The  other  theory  is  that  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  an  army  of  conquest 
that  cannot  be  satisfied  with  present 
achievements,  that  will  never  rest  satis- 
fied until  the  orders  of  our  Commander 
in  Chief  have  been  literally  obeyed. 

For  thousands  of  years  the  highest 
civilization  of  the  world  centered  around 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  During  the  last 
two  or  three  centuries  the  chief  events  of  world  history  have 
occurred  around  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  next  and  most  exten- 
sive development  of  the  human  race  seems  destined  to  be  around 
the  borders  of  the  Pacific.  The  presence  of  the  American  fleet 
in  Pacific  waters  is  only  one  of  many  indications  that  the  drift  of 
civilization  is  irresistibly  westward,  until  it  involves  the  Orient, 
where  live  more  than  half  the  entire  population  of  the  earth. 

The  awakening  of  the  Orient  means  the  adding  of  thousands 
of  millions  of  dollars  annually  to  the  commerce  of  the  nations. 
It  involves  vast  and  complex  problems  of  statesmanship,  and  it 
presents  an  unprecedented  and  imperative  challenge  to  the 
Church  of  Christ,  which  has  grown  to  be  the  dominating  con- 
structive factor  in  all  human  progress  and  history.  It  may 
be  that  vast  armies  and  ironclad  battle  ships  can  do  some- 
thing, in  a  negative  kind  of  way,  to  prevent  war;  but  the  only 
thing  that  can  guarantee  universal  peace  is  the  message  and 

(55) 


56  THE  AWAKENING. 

the  spirit  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  filling  the  world.  It  might  be 
a  very  serious  question  whether  Christian  governments  themselves 
would  not  insure  universal  peace  more  economically,  more  quick- 
ly, and  more  certainly  by  maintaining  a  standing  army  of  mis- 
sionaries rather  than  a  floating  navy  of  battle  ships. 

We  do  well  to  realize  the  very  close  relationships  of  com- 
merce, statesmanship,  and  the  missionary  enterprise.  The  fact 
is  that  they  are  all  so  closely  interrelated  that  we  could  not 
separate  them  one  from  the  other  if  we  would;  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve we  would  care  to  do  it  if  we  could.  Missionaries  are  the  pio- 
neers of  civilization  and  of  commerce,  and  by  their  presence  and 
influence  in  lands  where  they  are  at  work  have  so  multiplied  the 
volume  of  business  that  the  entire  cost  of  the  foreign  missionary 
enterprise  might  be  paid  out  of  a  fraction  of  the  profits  from  the 
business  which  has  resulted  from  their  presence  in  these  countries. 

We  do  well  also  to  realize  how  closely  our  missionaries  have 
been  related  to  the  great  problems  of  international  statesmanship. 
In  many  cases  they  have  actually  been  the  agents  of  the  govern- 
ments, and  in  other  cases  the  official  interpreters  of  the  govern- 
ments in  important  diplomatic  negotiations.  They  have  been  out 
much  farther  into  the  heart  of  these  great  non-Christian  nations 
than  the  diplomats  have  been,  and  through  the  missionaries  the 
most  authentic  information  from  the  frontiers  has  come. 

The  fact  is  that  the  missionaries  foresaw  and  foretold  the 
Boxer  uprising  long  before  the  diplomats  believed  it  was  com- 
ing; and  had  it  not  been  for  the  courage  and  the  character  and 
the  consummate  skill  of  the  missionary  force,  and  the  loyalty  and 
faithfulness  of  the  native  Christian  Chinese,  the  entire  foreign 
community  would  have  been  obliterated  in  the  siege  of  Peking.  So 
we  need  to  realize  that  missions  are  interlaced  so  closely  with  all 
the  progress  of  civilization  that  they  are  really  fundamental  to  it. 
Secretary  Taft,  who  spoke  to  a  great  audience  of  men  (the 
greatest  and  most  representative  that  has  ever  been  held  on  the 
subject  of  foreign  missions  on  this  continent,  if  not  in  the 
world)  last  Monday  night  in  Carnegie  Hall,  in  New  York,  stated 
that  the  presence  and  work  of  the  missionaries  in  the  Orient  is 
the  absolutely  indispensable  condition  of  extending  civilization 
to  that  part  of  the  world.  We  expect  to  have  his  address  print- 
ed, so  that  you  can  have  it  in  detail  for  circulation  among  all  of 


A   WORLD  CAMPAIGN   FOR   MISSIONS.  57 

your  Qiurches  within  a  few  days.  It  is  one  o£  the  most  notable 
addresses  given  in  our  generation  by  a  great  statesman  on  the 
absolute  necessity  of  the  Church  being  the  forerunner  of  progress 
and  civilization  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

I  wonder  if  we  realize  how  important  is  the  place  that  God 
has  given  our  nation  along  all  lines  of  progress?  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  is  too  much  to  say  that  America  has  been  given  the  first 
place  commercially,  politically,  and  religiously  in  world  progress 
in  our  generation. 

We  recognize  that  this  is  true  commercially — that  our  trade 
with  the  world  is  greater  than  any  other  nation.  We  ought  to 
realize  that  it  is  so  politically:  no  other  nation  has  the  influence 
to-day  in  the  councils  of  the  nations  that  our  own  has.  No  one 
could  have  brought  about  the  treaty  of  peace  between  Japan  and 
Russia,  among  all  the  leaders  of  the  nations,  but  our  own  cour- 
ageous President  Roosevelt.  [Applause.]  China  remembers  very 
well  that  a  few  years  ago,  through  the  foresight  and  vigor  of 
our  great  statesman,  John  Hay,  that  nation  was  saved  from  dis- 
memberment, and  she  is  not  likely  ever  to  forget  that  blessing. 
Even  in  India,  under  the  British  flag,  where  it  was  my  priv- 
ilege to  work  as  a  layman  for  ten  years  among  the  students  of 
Calcutta,  the  American  missionary  has  an  influence  that  the  Eng- 
lish missionary,  even,  doesn't  have;  not  that  the  English  mis- 
sionary isn't  as  capable  and  courageous  and  consecrated,  but  be- 
cause many  of  the  natives  have  the  idea  that  he  is  in  some  way 
the  representative  of  the  government  under  whose  flag  he  dwells. 
And  the  American  missionary  is  free  from  any  suspicion  of  that 
kind.  You  all  know,  who  are  familiar  with  the  history  of  Japan, 
that  our  American  missionary  force  has  been  prominent  and 
most  effective  both  in  diplomatic  negotiations  and  in  introducing 
Western  civilization  to  that  empire.  So  that,  all  around  the  world 
to-day,  we  ought  to  realize  the  fact — for  it  is  a  fact,  without  any 
boasting — that  we  have  the  place  of  primary  opportunity  and  in- 
fluence and  responsibility  not  only  along  commercial  and  political 
lines  but  along  definitely  spiritual  lines.  And  it  would  seem  that 
we  should  realize  that  we  have  those  obligations  in  order  that  we 
may  rise  up  and  worthily  discharge  them. 

I  have  no  particular  zeal  for  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment nor  for  any  other  human  organization  that  is  destined  to 


58  THE   AWAKENINa 

pass  away  when  its  usefulness  has  been  fulfilled.  I  believe  the 
only  organization  in  the  world  that  is  going  to  abide  forever  is 
the  Church  of  Christ.  [Applause.]  All  these  other  human  or- 
ganizations are  merely  temporary  helps  to  enable  the  Church  to 
fulfill  the  great  purpose  of  our  Lord;  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
any  of  these  would  be  necessary  if  the  Church  were  in  the 
united  condition  that  our  Lord  prayed  she  might  be.  I  believe 
it  is  only  because  of  our  unfortunate  separation  into  various 
bodies  that  we  have  to  have  some  platform  on  which  we  can 
come  together;  and  in  view  of  the  world  opportunity  with 
which  we  are  confronted,  I  believe  that  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement  presents  such  a  platform,  on  which  men  of  all 
Churches  can  study  the  religious  situation  of  the  world,  and 
then  can  act  cooperatively  in  meeting  that  situation ;  for  we 
have  come  to  the  point  on  the  foreign  mission  field  where  we 
are  quite  satisfied  to  trust  each  other  as  denominations  to  preach 
a  saving  gospel. 

No  one  of  our  denominations  is  large  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  consider  the  possibility  of  covering  with  its  own  rep- 
resentatives the  entire  non-Christian  world.  And  so  our  for- 
eign missionaries,  face  to  face  with  heathenism,  have  come  to 
feel  that  the  conditions  that  divide  Methodists  from  Baptists 
and  Baptists  from  Presbyterians  are  insignificant  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  g^eat  spiritual  destitution  of  these  nations;  and  they 
are  entirely  satisfied  to  turn  over  a  whole  State  or  Province  to 
any  denomination  that  can  enter  into  and  evangelize  it.  So  it 
has  come  to  pass  that  the  Foreign  Missionary  Boards  of 
North  America  have  been  meeting  together  year  after  year  for 
the  last  fifteen  years,  planning  their  work  on  the  cooperative 
and  comprehensive  basis,  and  not  on  the  competitive  basis.  May 
the  day  come  when,  in  our  own  country  also,  we  may  stop  our 
competition  in  order  that  every  man  may  have  a  field  as  large 
as  he  can  occupy,  and  in  order  that  every  spare  man  and  every 
spare  dollar  may  be  put  into  a  field  where  nobody  is  now  at 
work !     [Applause.] 

I  have  been  up  and  down  this  country  for  a  number  of  years, 
traveling  from  coast  to  coast  and  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf, 
and  I  give  it  to  you  as  my  solemn  conviction  that  of  the  136,000 
ordained  ministers  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in  this  country  at 


A   WORLD   CAMPAIGN    FOR    MISSIONS.  59 

the  present  moment  we  could  easily  spare  anywhere  from  twenty 
to  thirty  thousand  of  them,  who  are  now  working  in  small  fields, 
where  there  are  more  Churches  than  are  really  required  to  sup- 
ply the  religious  needs  of  the  community.  And  those  people, 
with  their  support,  if  we  were  working  on  a  truly  cooperative 
basis,  could  work  wonders  by  occupying  great  fields  where  no 
one  representing  any  denomination  is  now  at  work.  [Applause.] 
We  cannot,  of  course,  in  any  mechanical  or  arbitrary  way  force 
such  union,  but  our  missionaries  have  got  to  the  point  where  they 
are  willing  and  able  truly  to  cooperate.  And  that  is  only  the 
prophecy  of  the  good  time  coming,  when  we  here  shall  also  get 
into  this  splendid  relationship  here  at  home. 

Now,  what  is  the  outstanding  fact  that  faces  the  Church  of 
Christ  to-night  as  a  whole?  Your  denomination  has  been  de- 
liberating here  for  three  days  about  its  share  of  the  non- 
Christian  world.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  set  your  part  of  the  field 
into  its  relationship  with  the  whole  field  in  order  that  you  may 
realize  your  opportunity  in  the  comprehensive  scheme  to  evan- 
gelize the  whole  world. 

The  chart  here  behind  me  indicates  the  entire  amount  spent  by 
the  Protestant  Christian  Church  throughout  the  world  on  this 
missionary  enterprise  last  year — $22,460,000.  Of  that  amount, 
about  $9,500,000  came  from  the  United  States  and  Canada,  about 
nine  and  one-third  millions  from  Great  Britain,  and  about  three 
and  a  half  millions  from  the  other  countries  of  the  world.  I 
think  you  will  be  struck  with  two  facts  on  that  chart:  First,  that 
Great  Britain  gave  about  as  much  as  we  did,  although  she 
has  only  half  our  population  and  less  than  half  our  wealth. 
That  means  that  Great  Britain  is  doing  twice  as  much  in  pro- 
portion to  her  wealth  as  we  are  doing  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  non-Christian  world.  It  would  be  well  to  realize,  along  with 
that,  another  thing:  that  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  to- 
gether are  now  doing  eighty- four  per  cent  of  all  the  foreign  mis- 
sion work  done  in  the  world.  That  gives  very  great  significance  to 
the  fact  that  this  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  has  already 
spread  to  Great  Britain.  At  the  invitation  of  the  Missionary  Socie- 
ties in  England  last  year  six  laymen  went  over  there  to  speak  on 
the  advantages  and  desirability  of  the  men  of  the  English-speaking 


6o  THE   AWAKENING. 

world  uniting  in  one  cooperative,  comprehensive  movement  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  unevangelized  world. 

We  supposed  that,  on  account  of  the  conservatism  of  England 
and  Scotland,  they  would  want  to  think  it  over  for  six  months 
or  a  year  before  taking  action;  but  they  were  so  wonderfully 
prepared,  providentially,  for  this  same  movement  that  within 
thirty  days  there  was  a  national  organization  of  the  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement  in  England  and  another  in  Scotland. 
Each  of  them  raised  on  the  spot,  as  you  are  doing  here  now, 
money  to  support  a  Secretary  and  to  meet  other  necessary  ex- 
penses. And  during  the  last  month  the  Secretary  of  the  Scot- 
tish Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  has  been  traveling  up  and 
down  the  United  States  and  Canada,  in  cities  where  great  for- 
ward movements  have  been  undertaken,  in  order  that  he  might 
study  the  secrets  of  this  Movement  and  apply  our  methods  to 
the  cities  of  Scotland  and  England.  It  is  an  inspiring  thing  to  me 
that,  overleaping  all  political  barriers,  the  Christian  men  of  the 
English-speaking  world  are  now  actually  united  in  one  great  mis- 
sionary movement.     [Applause.] 

How  far  does  this  $22,C)C)0,cxx>  go  in  supporting  an  adequate 
missionary  force  in  the  non-Christian  world?  Your  Church  and 
all  the  Protestant  Churches  of  Christendom  are  now  supporting 
thirteen  thousand  men  and  unmarried  women  missionaries.  There 
are  about  five  thousand  wives  of  missionaries  on  the  field ;  but  we 
leave  them  out  of  the  calculation  for  the  moment,  not  because 
they  are  not  splendid  missionaries,  but  because  ordinarily  in  cal- 
culating the  missionary  force  necessary  for  the  field  either  a  man 
or  an  unmarried  woman  is  assigned  to  a  district.  The  consensus 
of  judgment  of  different  missionary  bodies  in  the  various  countries 
is  to  this  effect:  If  we  are  going  to  evangelize  the  whole  world 
in  this  generation,  we  ought  to  have  about  one  missionary,  either 
a  man  or  an  unmarried  woman,  among  every  twenty-five  thousand 
of  the  people  to  be  reached.  Thirteen  thousand  missionaries,  each 
with  a  field  of  twenty-five  thousand,  can  look  after  325,000,000  peo- 
ple ;  but  that  leaves  675,000,000  others  absolutely  unprovided  for. 

I  want  you  to  realize,  first  of  all,  how  great  an  undertaking  it 
is  for  thirteen  thousand  missionaries  to  evangelize  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  millions.  Bear  in  mind  that  we  have  in 
this  country  136,000  ordained  ministers,  in  addition  to  twenty 


A    WORLD   CAMPAIGN    FOR    MISSIONS.  6l 

millions  of  Church  members  like  you  and  me.  And  among  this 
force  of  foreign  missionaries  there  are  only  six  thousand  or- 
dained missionaries.  We  are  expecting  that  force  not  only  to  evan- 
gelize a  population  equal  to  the  United  States,  but  equal  to  all 
North  America,  plus  South  America,  plus  Great  Britain,  plus  Ger- 
many, plus  France,  and  about  twenty  millions  of  others  thrown 
in  for  good  measure !  That  is  the  kind  of  gigantic  undertaking 
our  present  missionary  force  is  facing.  And  when  they  sent  back 
to  the  home  Church  the  request  for  enough  missionaries  to  put 
only  one  among  every  twenty-five  thousand,  thereby  assuming  the 
responsibility  themselves  of  evangelizing  325,000,000  of  non- 
Christians,  I  believe  it  was  the  greatest  single  act  of  faith  on  the 
part  of  a  great  body  of  Christians  which  has  ever  been  known  in 
human  history.  [Applause.]  And  yet,  when  they  have  accom- 
plished that  magnificent  result,  do  we  realize  that  there  will  be 
675,000,000  still  unprovided  for?  That  is  the  reason  of  this  con- 
vention to-day.  That  is  the  reason  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement  and  of  all  the  forward  movements  in  all  the  Churches — 
for  a  larger  sacrifice  of  life  and  of  treasure,  in  order  that  the 
whole  world  may  be  evangelized  in  our  generation. 

What  is  the  proportion  of  the  entire  field  that  ought  to  be  un- 
dertaken by  the  North  American  Churches?  I  am  going  to  ask 
you  to  kindly  give  your  opinion  about  this  before  I  proceed. 
Let  me  remind  you,  first  of  all,  of  two  facts  before  I  ask  you 
to  answer  the  question :  That  the  United  States  and  Canada  are 
giving  forty-two  per  cent  of  all  the  Protestant  foreign  mission- 
ary money  in  the  world,  yet  we  are  only  doing  half  as  well  per 
capita  as  Great  Britain.  From  these  two  countries  the  bulk  of 
the  force  must  come.  Now,  in  view  of  those  facts,  what  propor- 
tion of  the  non-Christian  world  would  be  reasonable  for  our 
Churches  in  North  America  to  evangelize?  I  wish  I  could  have 
fifteen  or  twenty  answers  from  you,  just  what  you  feel  about  it. 
What  do  you  think  the  percentage  of  the  field  is  that  we  ought  to 
cover  from  this  country  ?    Please  give  me  your  best  impression. 

A  member :  "Sixty  per  cent." 

A  member :  "One-half." 

A  member :  "All  of  it."  .  / 

Mr.  White :  "We  want  to  let  Great  Britain  have  part  of  it." 

A  member:  "450,000,000." 

Mr.  White :  "That  is  a  little  less  than  fifty  per  cent." 


62  THE   AWAKENING. 

A  member:  "Two-thirds." 

A  member :  "Eighty- four  per  cent." 

^r.  White :  "That  is  twice  what  we  are  doing  now." 

A  member:  "Seventy-five  per  cent." 

Mr.  White:  "Well,  now,  one  man  suggested  a  little  less  than 
fifty  per  cent.  I  think  I  will  let  you  vote  on  the  question.  How 
many  would  be  in  favor  of  North  America  undertaking  at  least 
fifty  per  cent  of  the  work?  Those  favoring  this  please  hold  up 
your  hands.  [Audience  here  raise  their  hands.]  That  is  very 
good.  Thank  you.  How  many  think  we  ought  not  to  take  that 
much  ?    I  do  not  see  any  hands." 

On  the  basis  of  our  doing  fifty  per  cent  of  the  whole  work, 
we  would  have  five  hundred  millions  of  the  non-Christian  world 
to  reach.  Our  home  field  contains  fifty  millions  of  people  who 
are  now  outside  the  membership  of  all  our  Churches.  But  in 
the  foreign  mission  fields  there  are  500,000,000  of  people  whom 
we  must  evangelize  from  America,  if  they  are  ever  evangelized 
at  all.  I  wonder  how  many  have  been  thinking  of  this  foreign 
missionary  problem  in  that  proportion.  Nobody  in  this  audience 
doubts  for  one  minute  that  the  Christian  Church  in  this  country 
is  entirely  capable  of  evangelizing  America  in  this  generation. 
The  only  question  is  whether  we  are  going  to  make  possible  the 
evangelization  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  And  I  want  you  to  realize, 
inasmuch  as  we  have  already  agreed  that  500,000,000  is  the  low- 
est number  we  ought  to  reach  from  this  country — I  want  you  to 
realize  what  that  means.  That  means  that  every  man  of  us  has 
ten  times  as  many  people  to  reach  in  the  foreign  fields  as  at  home. 
That  means  that  every  congregation  here  has  a  field  ten  times 
as  big  outside  of  America  as  at  home.  That  means  that  your 
denomination,  and  every  other  denomination  in  America,  has  ten 
times  as  many  people  to  reach  away  from  America  as  here.  We 
ought  to  think  of  that  as  we  think  of  the  prayers  we  are  to  offer 
and  the  life  we  are  to  invest  and  the  money  which  we  are  to  put 
into  the  evangelizing  of  the  non-Christian  world.  These  are  the 
three  avenues  of  power  by  which  the  world  is  to  be  saved — prayer, 
life,  and  wealth,  I  do  not  know  how  many  of  us  are  praying  for 
the  whole  kingdom,  but  no  one  could  really  pray  the  prayer 
which  we  offered  unitedly  awhile  ago  without  praying  for  the 
whole  wide  world:  "Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."    Our  Lord  was  not  talking  about  North 


A   WORLD  CAMPAIGN    FOR    MISSIONS.  63 

America  or  the  United  States  or  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  he  was 
talking  about  the  whole  world.  The  other  question  is  the  life  we 
are  going  to  put  in  and  the  treasure.  How  much  life  would  be 
needed  if  we  put  one  among  every  twenty-five  thousand  in  the 
world  of  non-Christians?  That  would  only  be  twenty  thousand 
missionaries  from  North  America. 

I  was  reminded  very  vividly,  as  some  of  the  Chattanooga  Com-, 
mittee  took  me  out  through  Chickamauga  Park,  over  this  his- 
toric battle  ground,  of  a  far  greater  sacrifice  that  was  made  by 
our  States  and  our  homes  a  generation  ago.  From  the  State  of 
Illinois,  one  soldier  out  of  every  seven  of  the  entire  population 
went  to  the  front;  from  the  State  of  Kansas,  one  out  of  every 
six;  from  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  one  out  of  every  five; 
from  the  State  of  Louisiana,  one  out  of  every  four;  from  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  20,000  more  soldiers  went  to  the  front 
than  they  had  voters  in  the  State.  [Applause.]  That  is  the 
kind  of  sacrifice  that  a  nation  will  make  when  it  is  desperately 
in  earnest.  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  if  the  Church  of 
Christ  became  in  earnest  about  evangelising  the  world  it  would  not 
give  one  of  its  sons  or  daughters  out  of  every  1,000  of  its  member- 
ship in  order  that  the  message  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  may  be 
heralded  around  the  world? 

I  was  very  much  struck  with  the  inscription  on  the  Georgia 
monument  this  afternoon:  "To  the  lasting  memory  of  all  her 
sons  who  fought  on  this  field — those  who  fought  and  lived,  and 
those  who  fought  and  died;  those  who  gave  much,  and  those 
who  gave  all — Georgia  erects  this  monument."  [Applause.] 
That's  the  kind  of  spirit  with  which  we  must  confront  this  great 
world  problem — those  who  are  willing  to  give  much  and  those 
who  are  willing  to  give  all.  [Applause.]  The  Senator  who  was 
with  us  this  afternoon  said:  "There  is  not  any  recognition  there 
of  those  who  only  gave  a  little."  And  in  the  last  great  rounding 
up  that  is  coming  yonder  in  the  future  there  will  be  recognition 
that  you  and  I  will  desire — only  for  those  who  have  given  much 
or  who  have  given  all.  And  I  believe  our  reward  and  happiness, 
in  the  presence  of  our  King,  will  be  largely  in  proportion  as  we 
have  given  to  his  service  and  glory. 

Now,  it  is  very  easy  for  you  to  make  calculations  from  these 
figures.  If  there  are  500,000,000  of  people  who  must  be  reached 
from  America,  and  20,000,000  members  of  the  Protestant  Chris- 


64  THE  AWAKENING. 

tian  Church,  about  how  many  would  that  be  for  each  one  of  us 
to  reach?  That  would  be  about  twenty-five,  wouldn't  it?  You 
have  1,700,000  members,  or  a  little  more,  in  your  denomination, 
Bishop  Wilson  was  telling  me.  If  you  multiply  25  by  1,700,000, 
about  how  much  do  you  get?  About  42,500,000.  Your  Mission 
Board  estimates  your  field  abroad  at  forty  millions.  This  is  not  too 
much  for  your  denomination,  if  you  take  merely  your  per  capita 
share  of  this  responsibility.  I  wish  you  would  realize  that  other 
denominations  also  are  undertaking  their  share.  The  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  believe  they  are  responsible  for  twenty-five 
million  of  those  people,  and  they  are  trying  to  send  out  missiona- 
ries enough  to  evangelize  that  many.  The  Northern  Presbyterians 
believe  they  are  responsible  for  one  hundred  million,  and  are  try- 
ing to  send  out  missionaries  enough  to  reach  that  many.  They  have 
had  one  convention,  with  over  1,000  men  present,  in  Omaha;  and 
another  in  Philadelphia,  with  1,600  men  present;  and  these  con- 
ventions of  men,  largely  laymen,  voted  it  to  be  their  consensus 
of  opinion  that  the  Presbyterian  Church  ought  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment  to  multiply  its  force  of  missionaries  from  800 
to  4,000,  and  its  funds  from  an  aggregate  of  $1,200,000  to  $6,- 
000,000  a  year,  or  an  average  of  $5  per  member  for  the  whole 
denomination.  Already  many  of  their  congregations  have  risen 
to  that  standard  and  gladly  provided  $5  per  member. 

So,  when  you  are  asking  your  denomination  for  an  average 
of  $2  per  capita,  it  is  only  giving  you  the  opportunity  to  measure 
up  to  your  obligation  in  this  world  campaign,  for  I  am  sure 
that  you  will  not  be  satisfied  until  it  has  become  universal. 
The  Congregationalists  of  North  America  say  they  are  re- 
sponsible for  seventy-five  millions  of  these  people,  and  they  are 
making  their  plans  on  that  scale.  Tlie  Northern  Baptists  say 
they  are  responsible  for  eighty  millions.  So,  between  one  de- 
nomination and  another,  the  whole  field  is  being  divided  up. 
Unless  you  reach  your  field,  it  will  not  be  reached  at  all. 
I  want  you  to  see  how  economical  and  conservative  it  is  that 
your  committee  should  ask  you  for  only  three  million  dollars 
a  year  in  order  to  evangelize  forty  million  people.  First  of  all, 
we  will  take  this  fact:  There  are  nearly  eighty  millions  of  peo- 
ple in  the  United  States.  Forty  millions  is  half  of  that  whole 
number.  Do  you  realize  that  the  Methodist  Church  in  these 
Southern  States  has  half  as  many  people  to  evangelize  yonder 


A   WORLD   CAMPAIGN    FOR    MISSIONS.  65 

in  the  Orient  as  the  whole  population  of  the  United  States? 
Now,  they  ask  for  three  million  dollars  a  year  to  do  that,  and 
you  voted  to  undertake  to  raise  three  million.  How  much  do 
we  spend  among  a  similar  number  of  people  each  year  in  Amer- 
ica for  religious  purposes?  Well,  we  spend  very  nearly  three 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  religious  purposes  in  the  United 
States  every  year,  if  not  quite  that  amount.  That  would  be 
$150,000,000  spent  on  forty  millions  of  people,  wouldn't  it? 
And  you  are  asking  for  $3,000,000  to  spend  among  a  similar 
number.  That  ought  to  be  reasonable  and  conservative.  If  you 
spend  $3,000,000  a  year  for  the  next  twenty-five  years,  how  much 
will  that  total  be  ?  Three  million  times  twenty-five  will  be  seventy- 
five  million.  That  is  less  than  $2  on  each  one  of  the  forty  millions, 
isn't  it? 

I  believe  we  can  evangelize  the  whole  world  at  an  average 
cost  of  not  more  than  $2  for  each  person  to  be  reached.  That  is 
all  your  Board  has  asked  for;  that  is  all  you  yourselves  have 
voted  to  raise;  and  it  is  important  that  you  get  that  raised  as 
speedily  as  possible,  if  you  are  going  to  evangelize  these  forty 
millions  of  people  in  this  generation.  For  do  you  realize  that 
they  are  dying  at  the  rate  of  more  than  one  million  a  year  out 
of  your  own  field?  Almost  as  many  dying  every  year  as  you 
have  members  in  your  entire  denomination  in  this  country. 
How  many  of  them  are  you  reaching  every  year  now  on  the 
basis  of  $2  being  enough  to  reach  one  individual?  You  are 
spending,  I  believe,  about  $750,000  on  foreign  missions  a  year. 
That  would  reach  approximately  375,000  people.  But  if  you 
reach  1,500,000  a  year,  in  order  to  cover  the  field  in  twenty- 
five  years  you  will  have  to  raise  far  in  excess  of  that.  More 
than  a  million  each  year  are  dying  who  have  not  yet  been 
reached  by  any  of  your  representatives,  and  I  hope  that 
you  will  toil  and  pray  and  sacrifice  so  that  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible moment  you  will  swing  out  into  these  fields  a  force  that 
will  be  able  to  evangelize  them ;  and  I  believe  that  your  Church 
doing  this  will  lead  other  Churches  to  similarly  occupy  their 
fields,  until  all  over  Christendom  we  shall  have  a  rising  up,  one 
denomination  after  another,  to  say:  "We  believe  the  time  has 
come  when  we  should  seriously  undertake  to  obey  our  Lord." 
And  I  have  the  greatest  confidence  that  you  are  going  to  under- 
take to  do  this,  because  during  the  last  few  months  there  has 

5 


66  THE   AWAKENING. 

been  such  a  marvelous  uprising  of  men  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada  to  undertake  to  do  similar  things. 

I  have  been  for  twenty  years  thinking  about  this  missionary 
problem  more  than  any  other.  During  that  time  I  have  been 
for  ten  years  face  to  face  with  conditions  yonder  in  India;  but 
I  will  declare  to  you  that  I  have  had  more  encouragement  dur- 
ing the  last  six  months  to  believe  that  the  world  will  actually  be 
evangelized  in  this  generation  than  in  all  the  other  nineteen 
years  put  together.  [Applause.]  During  the  last  six  months, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  united 
campaigns  have  been  held  in  twenty-two  cities  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  Let  me  indicate  to  you  briefly  what  those  cities  have 
done.  Six  cities  on  the  Pacific  Coast  from  which  I  have  just  re- 
turned (Spokane,  Seattle,  Portland,  Greater  Oakland,  Los  Ange- 
les, and  San  Diego,  in  which  there  is  a  total  of  112,000  Protestant 
Church  members)  gave  last  year  $116,000  to  foreign  missions. 
They  decided  this  year  to  try  to  raise  $470,000  from  the  same 
constituency.  [Applause.]  That  is  a  little  more  than  four 
times  as  much  as  they  have  been  giving.  Nine  cities  in  the 
South  and  the  West  (and  you  will  be  interested  in  the  names 
of  those  cities) — Topeka,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Louis,  Nashville, 
Knoxville,  Atlanta,  Charlotte,  Norfolk,  and  Richmond — those 
nine  cities  gave  last  year  to  foreign  missions  an  aggregate 
of  $181,000.  Representative  gatherings  of  their  business  men 
discussed  this  matter,  and  decided  what  they  ought  to  do. 
They  have  decided  to  undertake  to  raise,  not  $181,000,  but  $705,- 
000  annually  for  this  object.  [Applause.]  That  means  that  in 
these  fifteen  cities — and  not  one  of  all  the  cities  visited  has 
failed  to  take  active,  aggressive  action  in  the  matter — ^that  means 
that  these  cities  have  undertaken  to  quadruple  their  missionary 
output.  Surely  this  is  the  most  hopeful  action  in  behalf  of 
missions  which  has  been  taken  in  modern  times.  This  Missionary 
Movement  is  sweeping  through  Canada  in  the  same  way,  reaching 
from  Toronto  to  Halifax.  They  gave  there  last  year'  in  seven 
cities  to  missions  an  aggregate  of  $345,000.  They  have  now  un- 
dertaken to  raise  $877,000  per  year.  This  means  that  the  Church 
is  rising  this  year,  as  in  no  preceding  year  in  all  its  history,  to  see 
that  the  message  of  Christianity  is  heralded  around  the  world. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  living  in  these  days.  More  has  hap- 
pened in  the  last  ten  years  than  in  the  previous  one  hundred  and 


A   WORLD   CAMPAIGN    FOR    MISSIONS.  6/ 

more.  More  is  going  to  happen  in  the  next  twenty-five  years 
than  has  happened  in  the  last  twenty-five  hundred.  I  would 
rather  live  now,  for  the  next  twenty-five  years,  than  all  the 
nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years  that  Methuselah  lived;  for  a 
great  deal  more  is  going  to  happen.  It  seems  better  to  live  now 
than  at  any  other  time  during  all  history.  The  one  great  question 
that  confronts  you  and  me  and  all  Christians  living  in  our  time  is 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  during  our  generation,  making  this 
gospel  absolutely  universal.  I  am  sure  we  can  do  it.  Why,  it  only 
means,  on  the  financial  side,  about  one  street  car  fare  a  week  on  the 
average  from  the  Christians  of  this  country.  When  the  Protes- 
tant Christians  of  North  America  give  an  average  of  one  street  car 
fare  a  week,  that  will  be  $50,000,000  a  year  for  foreign  missions. 
I  believe  it  can  be  done.  I  believe  there  are  many  indications  that 
the  Church  is  going  to  do  it.  [Applause.]  And  I  believe  that  God 
wants  you  and  me  personally  to  have  a  larger  share  in  bringing 
about  this  evangelization  than  we  can  begin  to  realize  and  compre- 
hend to-night.  There  are  individual  men  now  living  who  by  their 
influence,  direct  and  indirect,  are  going  to  be  the  means  of  carrying 
the  gospel  to  a  million  or  more  individuals.  What  a  glorious  op- 
portunity it  is  to  live  with  such  possibilities !  That  man  had  the 
right  conception  of  life  who  said:  "I  would  rather  save  a  million 
men  than  save  a  million  dollars."     [Applause.] 

I  have  a  friend  in  Montreal  who  supported  me  for  ten  years 
in  Calcutta,  paying  all  my  salary.  He  supports  seven  or  eight 
missionaries  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  He  might  have  been 
a  millionaire  or  a  multimillionaire  by  this  time  if  he  had  thought 
the  best  thing  to  do  with  money  was  to  hoard  it,  but  he  thought 
the  best  thing  to  do  with  it  was  to  unloose  it  through  Christian 
personality  out  in  the  dark  parts  of  the  earth.  And  that  man,  to 
my  certain  knowledge,  by  that  kind  of  disposition  of  his  wealth, 
has  been  able  to  carry  the  gospel  to  tens  of  thousands  of  people 
who  otherwise  never  would  have  heard  it.  My  friend  Dr. 
Goucher,  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Baltimore,  has  during 
the  last  twenty  years  invested  about  $100,000  in  India. 
With  what  result?  There  are  in  that  district  fifty  thousand 
members  of  the  Methodist  Church  who  twenty  years  ago  were 
idolaters.  In  that  particular  instance  every  two  dollars  invested 
led  to  some  heathen  soul  accepting  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour 


68  THE   AWi^KENING. 

and  identifying  himself  with  the  Christian  Church.  And  it  will 
not  be  very  long  until  that  fifty  thousand  Christian  people  have 
become  one  hundred  thousand.  In  a  few  years  more  they  will 
become  five  hundred  thousand,  and  I  do  not  know  how  great  the 
company  may  be  that  will  meet  and  greet  our  Lord  when  he 
comes  if  they  go  on,  under  his  blessing,  multiplying  as  they 
are  now  doing.  There  is  no  other  investment  of  life  or  money 
in  all  the  world  that  can  be  made  that  will  tell  more  powerfully 
for  time  and  eternity  than  investing  in  personality  along  spiritual 
lines  out  in  those  great,  dark  places  of  the  earth.  And  there  is  a 
place  for  just  as  many  of  you  men  and  women  as  can  afford  to  do 
it — to  put  one  hundred,  five  hundred,  one  thousand,  or  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year  into  this  enterprise  of  redeeming  the  world. 

I  was  riding  along  with  a  Baptist  minister  in  a  train  some- 
time ago.  In  our  conversation  he  said :  "The  most  gener- 
ous person  in  my  congregation  is  an  old  colored  woman.  She 
can  neither  read  nor  write,  she  was  born  a  slave,  and  does  not 
have  a  penny  which  she  does  not  earn  over  the  washtub;  yet  she 
gives  $50  a  year  for  foreign  missions.  I  went  to  her  and  told 
her  that  she  was  giving  too  much;  that  she  could  not  afford  so 
much.  She  replied  something  like  this :  'You  certainly  would  not 
take  away  from  me  the  very  greatest  pleasure  of  my  life.  Why, 
very  often,'  she  said  to  me,  'when  I  am  at  work  over  the  washtub, 
and  the  sweat  is  falling  down  off  my  brow  into  the  soapsuds  be- 
fore me,  these  sweat  drops  remind  me  of  the  jewels  I  am  laying 
up  in  the  presence  of  Jesus.'  "  That  old  black  woman  was  carry- 
ing the  gospel  to  about  twenty-five  of  her  sisters  and  brothers  at 
the  ends  of  the  world  every  year  by  her  humble  sacrifice  and 
love. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Africa  a  missionary  station  was  estab- 
lished. Among  the  converts  was  a  young  girl  about  sixteen  years 
old.  The  natives  were  taught  to  give  their  best  gifts  on  Christ- 
mas to  the  Saviour,  whose  birthday  was  being  celebrated.  Their 
very  poverty  kept  them  from  giving  anything  of  great  value ;  but 
if  anybody  could  give  a  penny  or  two,  that  was  counted  a  great 
gift.  Most  of  them  were  not  able  to  do  that.  They  would  bring  a 
handful  of  vegetables  from  their  gardens,  or  something  of  that 
kind.  But  on  this  occasion  this  girl  in  the  procession,  when  she 
got  in  front  of  the  preacher,  took  out  a  silver  coin  worth  eighty- 


A   WORLD   CAMPAIGN    FOR   MISSIONS.  69 

five  cents  and  handed  that  to  the  minister  as  her  gift  to  Christ. 
It  was  SO  large  an  amount  for  a  girl  in  her  position  to  give  that 
he  felt  some  hesitation  in  taking  it.  He  thought  that  she  had 
probably  stolen  it;  but,  lest  it  might  create  confusion,  he  accept- 
ed it  for  the  moment,  and  then  called  her  aside  at  the  close  of 
the  service  to  ask  her  where  she  got  it.  She  explained  to  him 
in  her  simple  way  that,  in  her  desire  to  give  something  to  Christ 
in  some  way  worthy  of  his  love  and  sacrifice  for  her,  she  had 
gone  to  a  neighboring  planter  and  voluntarily  bound  herself  out 
to  him  as  a  slave  for  the  rest  of  her  life  for  this  eighty-five  cents, 
and  had  brought  the  whole  financial  equivalent  of  her  life  of 
pledged  service  and  laid  it  down  in  a  single  gift  at  the  feet  of 
her  Lord! 

I  am  glad  to  have  a  gospel  to  preach  that  is  capable  of  doing 
that  for  a  savage,  and  I  feel  like  asking  my  own  heart  to-night 
whether  there  is  anything  so  glorious,  so  divine  that  we  can  do 
with  our  lives  as  to  bind  them  in  voluntary,  perpetual  slavery  to 
Jesus  Christ  for  lost  humanity's  sake,  and  to  say  to  him:  "If 
God  will  show  me  anything  that  I  can  do  for  the  redemption  of 
the  world  that  I  have  not  yet  undertaken,  by  his  grace  I  will 
undertake  it  at  once."  For  "I  cannot,  I  dare  not,  go  up  to 
judgment  till  I  have  done  the  utmost  God  enables  me  to  do  to 
promote  his  glory  throughout  the  whole,  wide  world." 

My  fellow-Christians,  I  believe  all  of  us  would  be  fully  satis- 
fied with  that  kind  of  a  life  purpose  a  thousand  years  from  to- 
night.    [Applause.] 


VI. 

THE  ONE  GREAT  MISSION  OF  THE 
CHURCH. 


Go'd  is  moving,  through  his  Church,  upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth; 
he  is  stirring  things  out  Elast;  he  is  waking  them  up;  he  is  letting  them 
know  that  there  are  things  besides  their  old  civilization ;  he  is  letting  them 
tmderstand  that  there  are  some  things  higher  than  their  superstitions  and 
idolatries;  he  is  giving  them  to  feel  that  there  are  forces  and  agencies  that 
do  not  belong  to  this  world,  to  which  they  must  give  heed  or  perish.  They 
begin  to  hear  the  muttering  voice  that  comes  back  to  them  from  the  world, 
from  the  nations,  and  from  the  kingdoms  of  even  this  earth:  "They  that 
will  not  serve  thee  shall  utterly  perish."  They  are  turning  to  the  mission- 
aries; they  are  turning  to  the  civilized  agencies  and  courting  the  commer- 
cial forces ;  they  are  turning  to  all  the  outside  world  to  find  out  what  these 
things  mean;  and  they  have  not  begun  to  learn  yet.  They  are  just  waking 
up.  But  by  and  by,  when  their  eyes  are  opemed,  when  they  see  the  form 
of  the  Son  of  Man  in  the  furnace  into  which  they  have  been  cast,  and  feel 
the  touch  of  his  hand,  then  they  will  learn  that  he  is  indeed  not  only  Lord 
of  all,  but  the  Saviour  of  all.  And  the  Church  will  come  to  them  as  his 
messenger,  indeed,  with  his  power,  presenting  his  life,  and  holding  them 
forth  before  the  world  and  making  it  to  know  that  he,  and  he  alone, 
can  save  them.  They  will  learn  that  there  is  no  other  name  given  under 
heaven  whereby  they  can  be  saved  except  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
That  is  what  the  Church  will  give  them ;  and  they  will  learn  that  from  the 
Church,  but  you  have  to  learn  it  first 

(72) 


VI. 


THE  ONE  GREAT  MISSION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


BISHOP  A.   W.  WILSON,   BALTIMORE,   MD. 

Mr.  President:  First  of  all,  I  want  you 
to  understand  that  when  you  are  talking 
about  the  Church  you  are  talking  about 
that  which  I  consider  the  greatest  thing 
in  earth — the  greatest  thing  in  heaven,  I  will 
say.  I  am  not  going  to  give  it  the  second 
place  to  any  organization  or  association 
that  may  be  devised  or  conceived  of  among 
men ;  it  stands  absolutely  first  in  its  char- 
lll  acter  and  in  its  power.  I  know  that  it  is  a 
\ii "/  very  customary  thing  among  the  leaders  of 
thought  in  the  various  departments  of  sec- 
ular life  to  sneer  at  the  Church ;  and  when 
we  want  to  bring  the  principle  of  virtue  that  belongs  to  the 
Church  into  practical  operation  in  the  departments  of  secular 
life,  they  will  talk  about  it  in  their  patronizing  way,  "We  are 
not  leading  a  Sunday  school,"  or  something  of  that  sort.  Well, 
that  is  just  what  you  should  expect.  Such  wisdom  belongs  to 
the  Church,  and  not  to  the  princes  of  riches  in  this  old  country ; 
and  you  may  rest  assured  that  these  princes  will  not  know  it  until 
they  are  finally  overcome  by  it,  as  they  are  going  to  be. 

The  Church  has  its  qualities  and  power,  because,  first,  it  has 
the  essential,  fundamental,  indispensable  truth,  the  truth  that 
belongs  to  all,  and  that  is  going  to  abide  when  all  the  mere  form- 
al statements  in  other  departments  of  life  shall  have  been  for- 
gotten. "Whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away;" 
but  this  knowledge  shall  not  vanish  away.  It  is  not  in  the  ab- 
stract merely ;  it  is  the  living  truth ;  it  is  a  concrete  form,  and  has 
been  represented  to  the  world  in  a  personal  form.  You  cannot 
kill  it;  you  cannot  hide  it;  you  cannot  put  it  away  in  the  vaults 
of  your  laboratory  and  let  it  lie  there  to  be  forgotten  or  un- 
earthed by  scholars  in  the  ages  to  come.    It  is  a  thing  of  such 

(73) 


74  THE   AWAKENING. 

vitality  that  it  holds  its  place  in  your  household  to-day,  in  your 
counting  office,  and  in  your  bank;  and  wherever  you  may  find 
yourself,  in  social  or  in  political  life,  this  truth  of  the  Church 
confronts  you  and  demands  acknowledgment,  recognition,  sub- 
jection ;  and  if  you  do  not  yield  to  it,  once  your  disobedience  has 
been  established,  there  is  going  to  be  a  reckoning. 

There  is  one  thing  that  reminds  me  that  the  Church  of  God 
alone  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth.  That  is  why  I  hold 
it  first.  I  hold  it  first  because  it  represents  to  the  world  the  high- 
est ideal  of  character  and  of  love.  I  do  not  care  what  you  may 
say  about  the  men  who  have  led  armies  and  been  foremost  in 
scientific  pursuits  in  different  ages  of  the  world,  in  study — aye, 
even  in  character  and  social  life — ^you  may  give  them  all  the 
courage  to  direct  and  all  the  honor  they  may  have  bestowed  upon 
them ;  but  after  all,  I  affirm,  none  of  them  have  ever  approached 
within  seeing  distance  of  the  ideal  that  is  furnished  by  the  Church 
of  God  for  human  attainment. 

We  do  not  stand  upon  the  moral  level  of  the  secular  life  with 
any  of  its  qualities,  its  polish,  its  education,  its  gain  in  any 
direction;  we  do  not  stand  there  and  say:  "We  are  going  to 
measure  up  to  this  and  bring  man  up  to  it."  But  we  get  above 
that  level,  and  say:  "The  only  ideal  is  that  which  comes  down 
from  God  out  of  heaven;  and  unless  there  be  a  God,  you  will 
not  know  what  man  is  or  can  be."     [Applause.] 

We  want  to  sit  in  the  heavenly  places.  We  claim  a  right  to 
associate  not  only  with  humanity  under  secular  conditions,  but 
with  the  best  and  highest  forms  of  creation  in  any  and  all  worlds. 
[Applause.]  We  affirm  that  it  is  the  right  and  prerogative  of 
the  Church  to  raise  men  that  shall  be  able  to  confront  God  him- 
self, through  God,  and  walk  in  fellowship  with  his  Son ;  so  that 
his  Son  may  be  the  firstborn  among  many  brethren.  But  we  do 
not  stop  short  of  that.  No  other  organization  or  association  on 
earth,  no  agency  that  man  ever  dreamed  of,  has  ever  accomplished 
such  results  as  those.  They  have  all  had  their  level,  and  their 
ideals  have  produced  local  or  national  fame. 

If  you  want  to  make  a  statesman,  you  take  a  course  in  the 
political  school.  Aren't  they  splendid  schools  for  the  education 
of  manhood?  If  you  want  to  give  a  man  power  among  men  and 
great  intellect,  you  put  him  through  your  scientific  courses,  and 
give  him  instruction  in  philosophy;  and  he  comes  out  simply  to 


THE  ONE  GREAT   MISSION   OF  THE   CHURCH.  75 

tell  you  that  you  do  not  know  anything,  that  you  should  learn  the 
feats  in  the  gymnasium,  that  you  should  learn  the  different  theo- 
ries that  the  university  teaches — if  you  don't  know  these  things, 
you  don't  know  anything.  But  we  say  the  man  that  knows  God 
and  Jesus  Christ  knows  everything  that  is  worth  knowing  in  this 
universe.  [Applause.]  He  is  bound  to  come  to  know,  in  the 
ages  to  come  if  he  does  not  during  this  present  life,  everything 
that  is  to  be  known.  I  wish  Bishop  Hendrix  would  use  his  facile 
pen  on  that  sort  of  studies  to  work  up  that  first  chapter  of  Colos- 
sians.  I  marvel  that  we  have  not  made' more  of  it.  It  contains  the 
supreme  philosophy  of  this  and  all  worlds.  And  it  is  going  to  set 
aside  all  pretensions  of  science — aye,  and  all  speculative  philoso- 
phy down  through  the  process  of  creation,  down  into  the  historic 
experiences  of  our  humanity,  until  it  touches  the  very  bottom 
phases  of  life  and  death ;  then  it  will  lift  the  whole  up  to  the  level 
of  God,  and  raise  everything  with  itself  up  to  God.     [Applause.] 

That  is  our  philosophy,  and  that  is  the  school  we  are  learning 
in ;  and  when  the  intellect  gets  out  of  the  secular  teachings  into 
that  sort  of  truth  and  works  along  those  lines,  it  is  going  to  be 
settled  where  the  higher  courses  in  learning  can  never  bring  you. 
That  is  what  we  want,  and  that  is  what  the  Church  represents. 
And  I  want  you  to  remember  another  thing  about  it :  the  Church 
stands  upon  an  immovable  foundation.  The  side  issues  may  be 
discussed ;  but  set  them  aside  for  future  consideration.  There  are 
a  great  many  things  that,  in  their  present  status,  we  see  through 
clouds;  we  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  them;  but  the  great 
solid  foundation,  the  thing  that  can  never  be  moved,  is  that  on 
which  the  Church  builds,  and  that  upon  which  she  alone  stakes 
her  existence  and  her  whole  character.  We  do  not  stake  it  upon 
any  speculative  information,  whether  in  theology  or  philosophy; 
we  do  not  stake  it  upon  any  political  view;  we  stake  it  simply 
and  only  upon  the  averment  and  presentation  of  Jesus  Christ 
himself.  "Upon  this  rock  will  I  build  my  Church,  and  the  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

The  Church  has  a  power  that  no  other  organization,  associa- 
tion, or  agency  of  this  world  can  claim  or  dares  to  claim.  To 
prove  you  this,  I  need  only  quote  the  words  of  St.  Paul  concern- 
ing the  strength  and  power  that  Jesus  had  given  to  his  disciples, 
"All  things  are  yours,"  when  the  Church  was  laboring  under  the 
feet  of  imperial  brutality,  when  it  was  groveling  in  the  earth. 


'jd  THE  AWAKENING. 

when  it  was  spending  its  life  to  keep  itself  from  titter  destruc- 
tion, when  it  was  absolutely  made  up  of  the  meanest  specimens, 
according  to  this  world's  judgment,  of  our  humanity  that  could 
be  found,  the  slaves  of  the  world,  the  poor,  and  the  outcasts. 

In  all  the  world,  with  all  its  reforms  and  all  its  historic  move- 
ments and  all  its  speculations  about  the  future  life,  you  alone 
have  the  power  that  death  shall  never  conquer,  that  will  stand 
against  any  assault  that  may  be  made  against  it  in  this  world 
and  the  worlds  to  come,  for  the  eternal  life  itself  is  yours.  You 
can  make  it  triumph  over  all  the  forms  of  adversity  that  may  be 
brought  to  bear  against  you.  Life,  death,  things  present,  and 
things  to  come !  Sweep  the  universe  and  gather  into  your  thought 
all  the  resources  of  God  everywhere — "they  are  yours."  The 
Church  has  it  to  command.    "They  are  yours." 

Go  to  your  highest  legislative  halls,  and  ask  them,  when  they 
make  their  plans  for  the  control  of  great  interests  and  the  direc- 
tion of  great  movements — ask  them  what  are  their  resources. 
They  will  begin  to  count  them  out  in  great  form,  and  tell  you: 
"We  have  the  majesty  of  the  law ;  we  have  the  power  of  the  gov- 
ernment; we  have  the  hand  of  taxation  upon  the  wealth  of  the 
country."  Yes,  and  what  do  they  do?  We  have  been  at  it  for 
centuries,  and  had  all  of  these  things,  and  more  than  I  can  name, 
and  they  are  trying  to  get  more;  and  as  they  gather  them,  one 
after  the  other,  they  don't  avail  in  the  great  need  of  the  govern- 
ment and  of  society. 

There  is  as  much  poverty  to-day  in  our  great  country  as  there 
ever  was  in  the  world's  history.  There  is  as  profound  degrada- 
tion of  character.  There  is  as  supreme  lawlessness.  There  is  as 
much  of  all  evil  among  men  as  there  ever  was  in  the  world,  ex- 
cept just  where  the  Church  has  laid  its  hand  upon  men  and  said, 
in  the  Master's  name:  "Be  thou  clean."  Only  there  has  there 
been  redemption. 

Governments  never  redeem  anybody.  Legislation  has  never 
saved  anybody.  Wealth  has  not  saved  anybody.  Heaven  help 
us,  it  has  done  a  vast  deal  on  the  other  side.  Wealth  does  not 
help  to  redeem  men.  The  one  power  that  the  Church  has  under 
control,  that  God  has  put  into  your  hands — the  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  that  cleans  and  saves  every  man  that  truly  believes  in  Je- 
sus Christ — ^that  is  the  saving  power,  and  that  is  the  supreme 
power  in  this  world.     [Applause.] 


THE  ONE  GREAT    MISSION   OF   THE    CHURCH,  'JJ 

I  never  go  into  a  little  prayer  meeting,  where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together,  without  a  feeling  of  reverence.  Usually  they 
are  poor  people.  There  may  be  but  two  or  three,  but  He  is  with 
them.  They  have  that  privilege,  and  can  stand  there  in  His  pres- 
ence and  call  forth  the  mighty  powers  of  His  government  that 
control  His  interests  and  that  pertain  to  them  in  life.  And  when 
a  whole  Church  comes  together,  with  hundreds  of  men  and  women 
present  who  recognize  but  the  one  Lord  of  all,  I  bare  my  head 
reverently  and  acknowledge  that  I  am  in  the  presence  of  the 
greatest  power  that  earth  or  heaven  can  show. 

One  of  the  things  that  we  have  been  troubled  with  in  the  years 
past  is  that  our  own  people,  while  they  owe  everything  to  the 
Church  of  God,  have  yet  depreciated  their  Church.  They  are 
snarling  among  themselves  because  of  some  little  imperfection 
and  because  of  some  dislike  of  the  measures  that  do  not  meet 
their  wants  or  offend  the  taste  of  the  secular  class.  That  is  too 
often  the  cause  of  the  Church  being  disfigured  and  spotted  here 
and  there.  But,  in  spite  of  all  those  little  outbreaks  of  mere  petty 
passion  or  local  prejudices  or  personal  opinion,  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  Church  of  God  is  the  representative  of  him  before 
the  world,  and  all  the  petty  passions  and  outbreaks  are  but  pus- 
tules on  the  surface. 

I  want  you  to  hold  to  that.  Don't  be  thinking  about  your 
little  community,  with  its  surface  outbreaks;  don't  be  thinking 
about  your  poor  little  habitation.  The  church  that  was  built  fifty 
years  ago  may  be  nearly  worn  out,  and  you  can't  afford  to  build 
another;  but  the  Church  in  the  wilderness  is  as  good  as  the 
Church  in  Solomon's  temple.  Don't  fret  or  worry  about  those 
things.  Just  think  that,  if  there  are  but  a  half  dozen  of  us  here 
that  believe  in  the  Son  of  God,  we  have  the  Church  of  God  here ; 
and  that  is  the  mightiest  power  in  this  community  or  in  the  coun- 
try or  in  the  world,  t^pplause.]  Only  think  about  that,  and 
work  on  that  line,  and  you  will  come  to  realize  what  it  is  to  be 
in  the  Church  of  God.  I  thank  God  that  I  have  a  place  in  his 
Church,  and  you  are  never  going  to  drive  me  out.  [Applause.] 
If  I  haven't  a  little  place  here,  I  will  go  out  in  some  little  rural 
place,  among  a  simple  folk,  and  in  their  way  worship  God  and  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  cast  my  lot  with  them.  But 
the  Church  has  got  to  hold  on  to  me,  because  I  am  going  to  hold 
on  to  it.    [Applause.] 


^8  THE  AWAKENINa 

Now,  if  I  am  right  about  the  Church,  what  is  its  condition? 
Does  it  Hve  simply  to  enjoy  these  prerogatives  for  itself?  You 
say:  "I  am  going  to  make  myself  great,  and  to  get  up  into  the 
highest  heavens,  where  I  can  look  down  upon  all  the  rest  of  the 
race  in  my  superiority."  I  think  not.  I  don't  think  that  is  the 
idea.  We  sometimes  talk  with  men  who  act  as  though  they  were 
the  whole  of  the  business  themselves,  and  as  if  they  thought  He 
had  gathered  all  the  resources  of  the  earth  and  concentrated 
them  on  one  person,  putting  that  man  above  all  the  rest  of  the 
race.  O  no;  that  is  a  very  different  thing.  It  is  a  good  thing 
to  convert  one  and  bring  him  up  into  the  presence  of  God ;  but 
it  is  not  his  to  go  there  alone ;  he  must  stretch  his  arms  out  and 
gather  the  crowd  in  and  pull  them  up  with  him.  [Applause.] 
That  is  what  conversion  means.  If  it  means  anything,  it  means 
unselfishness.  If  it  saves  one,  it  will  save  all  who  believe  from  the 
everlasting  fires. 

That  is  the  idea.  This  great  Church  of  God,  with  all  its  re- 
sources, with  its  command  of  all  the  powers  of  heaven  and  earth, 
was  intended  to  do  the  greatest  thing  ever  done  in  heaven  or 
earth.  Do  not  forget  that.  I  haven't  any  faith  in  anything  but 
the  Church,  as  God's  agent,  for  bringing  about  the  great  results 
that  we  seek.  Other  agencies,  under  the  Lordship  of  Jesus 
Christ,  may  contribute  to  help  the  Church ;  but  the  Church  is  to 
do  the  work  after  all. 

Most  of  the  people  of  our  country,  and  the  English  too,  talk 
as  though  they  thought  that  the  gospel  had  its  beginning  right 
here,  and  was  suited  only  to  our  peculiar  views  and  institutions, 
and  was  not  adapted  to  these  lower  races  out  in  the  East.  It  was 
begun  out  there.  Peter  and  Paul  and  men  of  that  sort  were 
men  that  would  be  counted  inferiors  if  they  were  among  us  to- 
day; and  you  would  not  give  much  heed  to  them,  because  they 
belonged  to  those  superficial  and  half-trained  races  of  the  East. 
That  is  wonderful.  Though  apostles,  they  looked  like  barbarians. 
But  they  will  tell  you  about  a  civilization  of  which  you  never 
dreamed.  Now,  that  gospel  comes  to  you,  and  lets  you  know 
that  it  was  not  meant  for  you  in  the  first  instance.  Nobody  ever 
said  to  you,  or  can  say  to  you,  that  God  first  sent  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ  to  bless  you.  He  did  not.  He  sent  him  to  somebody  else 
first.  And  out  of  that  center,  out  from  that  Eastern  country,  he 
sent  his  messengers  through  all  the  world ;  and  their  message  got 


THE   ONE   GREAT    MISSION    OF   THE    CHURCH.  79 

hold  of  you  Western  people  and  lifted  you  out  of  gross  idolatry 
and  made  you  what  you  are. 

We  have  been  looking  at  things  from  this  side,  and  we  have 
not  seen  really  what  a  Church  is  intended  for.  When  we  talk 
about  improving  this  work,  you  begin  to  think  about  a  few 
preachers  going  out  to  do  the  thing,  like  a  Samson  shoulder- 
ing the  whole  work  upon  themselves.  "Let  them  go  out  and  do 
the  work.  That  is  right.  But  we  have  work  to  do  at  home." 
Yes,  you  have  work  to  do  at  home ;  that  is  true.  But  your  work 
to-day  at  home  as  laymen  is  to  get  the  money  to  send  the  men 
out  there  to  build  up  God's  kingdom  in  all  the  East  and  every- 
where else.     [Applause.] 

He  that  is  rich  unto  himself  and  is  not  rich  toward  God  is  the 
poorest  man  on  the  face  of  the  earth — so  poor  that  our  Lord  did 
not  hesitate  to  say  of  him :  "Thou  fool !"  [Applause.]  That  is 
what  you  laymen  have  to  learn.  The  Church  of  Christ  can  be 
carried  on  to  its  fullest  extent  only  when  the  whole  body  of  it 
works  together.  We  have  about  six  thousand  preachers,  I  think, 
in  our  Church  in  this  country ;  and  there  are  twice  as  many  more 
in  the  other  Churches.  What  are  they  lacking?  It  is  money. 
We  haven't  enough  to  minister  to  the  people  at  home.  If  the 
laymen  are  not  going  to  do  the  work,  it  never  will  be  done.  If 
the  preachers  are  the  workers,  what  are  the  laymen?  Are  they 
to  simply  sit  about  and  let  the  preachers  go  into  the  active  work 
and  fix  up  the  places  and  fill  their  mouths  with  all  the  earthly 
goods  while  they  do  nothing?    Is  that  God's  way?    O  no. 

You  talk  about  the  preachers  as  leaders  sometimes  in  a  kind 
of  patronizing  tone;  but  you  never  accept  them  as  leaders;  you 
don't  intend  to  do  it.  You  say :  "Well,  you  can  do  in  your  line 
and  in  your  way  the  things  that  you  want  to  do ;  but  you  cannot 
control  us.  We  are  going  to  do  what  we  think  right.  We  are 
making  our  own  money,  and  will  spend  it  in  our  own  way,  and 
live  according  to  our  own  notion  of  things."  If  that  is  what  the 
Church  means,  it  is  the  worst  failure  that  ever  had  its  beginning 
on  earth. 

I  am  going  to  say  this :  God  never  commenced  or  instituted  a 
proceeding  or  movement  that  was  or  can  be  a  failure.  But  the 
fact  is  we  have  a  mission  that  is  so  great  that  it  will  require  all 
the  vitality,  all  the  manhood,  all  the  energy,  all  the  intellect,  all 


8o  THE  AWAKENINa 

the  heart  and  enthusiasm,  all  the  wealth,  and  all  the  culture  among 
the  laity  as  well  as  the  preachers. 

We  are  getting  scarce  of  preachers.  I  was  going  to  say  I  was 
glad  of  it,  so  the  people  would  have  to  do  something  for  them- 
selves. Well,  we  cannot  have  enough  preachers,  I  suppose :  part- 
ly because  you  are  too  stingy  to  pay  them,  and  partly  because 
God  intends  that  the  laity  shall  learn  that  the  work  of  the  Church 
of  God  is  in  their  hands,  and  not  simply  in  the  hands  of  the 
preachers. 

Many  years  ago,  when  I  was  Missionary  Secretary,  I  was 
pleading  for  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  in  one  of  the  towns 
out  here  in  Eastern  Kentucky.  One  man  of  means,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  in  the  church  at  the  time,  came  to  me  afterwards, 
and  said :  "I  have  no  use  for  foreign  missions.  We  have  up  this 
creek  here  settlements  where  there  are  hundreds  of  people  who 
have  no  more  Christian  teaching  than  the  heathen  in  the  Far 
East."  "Well,"  said  I,  "it  is  the  supreme  disgrace  of  your 
Church  here  that  it  is  so.  You  have  a  body  of  five  or  six  hundred 
who  profess  to  live  in  Jesus  Christ;  and  yet  you  allow  these 
people  to  die  at  your  very  doors,  and  never  offer  them  the  bread 
of  Hfe.    The  curse  of  God  will  be  on  you  for  it." 

I  acknowledge  with  profoundest  sorrow  that  the  words  spoken 
in  the  address  of  the  Mayor  last  night  were  literally  true :  that  we 
have  a  lot  of  young  men  and  women  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  moun- 
tains and  in  our  rural  districts  that  have  never  heard  the  word  of 
God.  It  is  true  also  that  we  cannot  afford  to  let  them  go.  I  want 
to  raise  them  to  the  level  of  all  our  Christians;  and  that  can  be 
done  with  a  little  labor  at  home,  so  that  they  can  expend  them- 
selves in  giving  the  gospel  to  all  the  world.  [Applause.]  They 
are  the  sort  to  do  it.  I  tell  you,  that  sort  of  a  man  will  make  the 
best  sort  of  missionary.  He  is  a  strong  man  physically ;  and  when 
he  gets  among  the  heathen,  he  is  not  subject  as  readily  to  attacks 
of  the  diseases  w^hich  are  so  prevalent  there,  and  he  goes  out  with 
the  qualities  and  requirements  to  teach  the  word  of  God.  Take 
the  first  ministers  of  the  gospel.  God  trained  them  from  among 
the  fishermen  and  lower  strata  of  life,  so  that  when  they  came  to 
their  task  they  were  at  their  best  physically  and  intellectually. 
They  went  out  with  the  gospel  penetrating  the  innermost  cham- 
bers of  their  beings,  permeating,  saturating,  and  controlling  them 
in  every  fiber ;  and  when  they  went  out,  furnished  and  trained  by 


THE   ONE   GREAT    MISSION    OF  THE   CHURCH.  8l 

the  Saviour,  the  best  Teacher  the  world  ever  saw,  these  fishermen, 
with  no  training  in  the  rabbinical  schools,  turned  the  world  upside 
down. 

We  have  come  to  the  point  where  you  laymen  will  have  to  take 
hold  of  this  thing  and  work  it  out.  I  have  got  to  the  point  where 
I  want  to  see  the  laymen  take  hold  of  every  interest  in  the  Church 
and  push  the  foreign  missions  to  a  successful  place,  more  success- 
ful than  they  are  at  present,  and  not  let  the  missionaries  do  all 
the  work.  [Applause.]  I  want  to  see  them  not  only  manage  the 
money  matters,  but  also  assist  in  other  interests  of  the  Church. 
We  want  praying  men;  we  want  men  who  are  in  constant  com- 
munion with  God ;  we  want  men  who  take  their  ideals  of  life  not 
from  the  countingrooms  of  the  banks  and  merchants  nor  from 
the  legislative  halls  or  political  systems;  but  we  want  men  who 
take  their  ideals  from  their  fellowship  with  the  Son  of  God.  [Ap- 
plause.] These  are  the  men  who  can  do  the  world's  work,  and 
none  other.  We  cannot  afford  to  let  the  thing  fall  into  the  hands 
of  at  least  semi-secular  men,  who  would  do  the  work  now  and 
then,  five  minutes  a  week,  for  that  is  all  they  do.  Some  of  them 
come  to  prayer  meeting ;  but  the  most  of  them  do  not.  They  do 
not  know  how  to  pray.  They  will  come  to  church  Sunday  morn- 
ing, if  they  feel  well  enough ;  Sunday  night  they  cannot  come, 
for  they  say :  "Once  a  day  is  about  as  much  as  we  can  stand."  We 
cannot  expect  much  from  that  sort  of  men.  We  have  to  get  men 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Son  of  God.  The  laity  of  the  Church 
must  be  baptized  into  Christ,  They  must  have  the  spirit  of  Christ 
in  them,  and  that  every  day  and  hour,  praying  for  it,  working  for 
it,  living  for  it,  and  dying  for  it.    [Applause.] 

We  want  the  laymen  of  the  Church  to  get  in  that  condition ; 
then  the  Church  will  have  the  power  to  reach  all  the  nations,  and 
we  will  lift  the  nations  up  and  give  the  world  the  spectacle  of 
nations  conquered  without  the  blare  of  trumpets,  without  the  ex- 
plosion of  gunpowder,  without  the  show  of  battle  ships,  without 
any  of  the  horrors  of  war.  We  will  give  them  the  spectacle  of 
nations  conquered  by  the  voice  of  the  Prince  of  Peace;  we  will 
give  them  the  spectacle  of  the  greatest  results  in  earth  or  heaven, 
wrought  by  the  means  of  a  pure,  spiritual  life  and  the  power  of 
Jesus  Christ — power  such  as  God  uses,  and  nobody  but  God  and 
those  whom  God  wants  and  delegates  to  do  his  work.  That  is 
what  we  want  to  see. 
6 


82  THE   AWAKENING. 

Now,  the  one  great  interest  of  the  Church  encompasses  all  the 
interests  of  life.  I  do  not  believe  in  any  business  in  which  Jesus 
Christ  is  not  a  partner ;  I  do  not  believe  in  any  legislation  where 
he  does  not  sit  in  the  speaker's  chair ;  I  do  not  believe  in  any  gov- 
ernment where  he  does  not  occupy  the  executive  seat;  for  he  is 
Lord  of  all.  And  he  is  not  going  to  defend  anybody,  whether  he 
sits  on  the  kingly  throne  or  whether  he  rules  in  the  presidential 
chair,  unless  that  ruler  upholds  his  kingdom.  He  is  going  to  hold 
his  own  as  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  over  all  nations  and 
everywhere. 

He  is  moving,  through  his  Church,  upon  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth ;  he  is  stirring  things  out  East ;  he  is  waking  them  up ;  he  is 
letting  them  know  that  there  are  things  besides  their  old  civiliza- 
tion; he  is  letting  them  understand  that  there  are  some  things 
higher  than  their  superstitions  and  idolatries ;  he  is  giving  them 
to  feel  that  there  are  forces  and  agencies  that  do  not  belong  to  this 
world,  to  which  they  must  give  heed  or  perish.  They  begin  to  hear 
the  muttering  voice  that  comes  back  to  them  from  the  world,  from 
the  nations,  and  from  the  kingdoms  of  even  this  earth :  "They  that 
will  not  serve  thee  shall  utterly  perish."  They  are  turning  to  the 
missionaries ;  they  are  turning  to  the  civilized  agencies  and  court- 
ing the  commercial  forces;  they  are  turning  to  all  the  outside 
world  to  find  out  what  these  things  mean ;  and  they  have  not  begun 
to  learn  yet.  They  are  just  waking  up.  But  by  and  by,  when 
their  eyes  are  opened,  when  they  see  the  form  of  the  Son  of  Man 
in  the  furnace  into  wliich  they  have  been  cast  and  feel  the  touch 
of  his  hand,  then  they  will  learn  that  he  is  indeed  not  only  Lord 
of  all,  but  the  Saviour  of  all.  And  the  Church  will  come  to  them 
as  his  messenger,  indeed,  with  his  power,  presenting  his  life,  and 
holding  them  forth  before  the  world  and  making  them  to  know 
that  he,  and  he  alone,  can  save  them.  They  will  learn  that  there 
is  no  other  name  given  under  heaven  whereby  they  can  be  saved 
except  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  That  is  what  the  Church 
will  give  them ;  and  they  will  learn  that  from  the  Church,  but  you 
have  to  learn  it  first. 

Now,  when  you  have  done  this  yourselves,  and  consecrated  the 
whole  business,  consecrated  your  plans,  your  families,  your  wealth, 
your  legislation,  everything;  when  you  have  put  his  seal  on  the 
whole — then,  I  say,  the  Church  will  have  accomplished  the  work 


THE   ONE   GREAT    MISSION   OF   THE   CHURCH.  83 

God  wants  done  in  this  world,  and  there  will  be  such  a  clamor  as 
never  was  heard. 

Do  you  know  what  you  will  have  done  then?  You  will  have 
done  away  with  all  wars  and  conflicts ;  you  will  have  swept  out 
the  stain  and  disgrace  that  is  in  our  cities  by  reason  of  the  vices 
that  are  controlling  so  many  civilized  communities ;  you  will  have 
brought  a  reign  of  harmony  and  purity  and  peace — a  magnificent 
thing — between  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  world.  In  our  Amer- 
ican strongholds,  in  which  we  take  such  great  delight,  we  shall 
know  that  no  injustice  can  find  place.  A  man  will  recognize  his 
fellow  as  his  brother.  They  shall  stand  upon  the  same  level,  be- 
cause they  recognize  one  and  the  same  Lord.  Then  the  battle 
ships  will  disappear,  armies  will  disband,  wars  will  cease,  and  des- 
olate places  will  be  built  up,  and  the  old  habitations  that  have  been 
in  ruins  for  centuries  past  will  become  beautiful  cities. 

When  the  Church  of  God  shall  have  done  all  that,  then  the 
world  shall  proclaim  deliverance  everywhere.  He  is  going  to  do 
it  through  his  Church.  And  it  will  not  stop  there ;  for  in  the  ages 
to  come  the  song  of  the  redeemed  shall  be  heard  yonder  in  the 
heaven.  And  it  shall  be  known  by  the  Church  what  are  the  exceed- 
ing riches  of  his  grace.  Not  only  that,  but  the  principalities  and 
powers  of  the  heavenly  places  will  turn  their  faces  toward  the 
Church  in  its  perfected  state,  in  the  exercise  of  all  its  marvelous 
power,  and  see  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God.  The  whole  of  his 
mighty  work  shall  be  carried  on  through  his  own  people,  and  we 
shall  know  then  what  a  power  the  Church  has  been  and  what  a 
marvelous  commission  it  has  had  to  accomplish  in  the  earth. 

You  and  I  have  it  to  do.  We  have  to  do  it  at  any  cost.  We  can 
afford  it.  If  it  takes  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  Soochow,  China ;  if  it  requires  one  hundred  thou- 
sand for  Korea ;  if  it  requires  five  million  for  Japan ;  if  it  requires 
enormous  sums  undreamed  of  to-day  to  carry  on  this  work  through 
the  heathen  nations  of  the  world  and  to  help  men  up  to  this  higher 
fellowship  with  the  eternal  world — if  it  takes  it  all,  in  God's  name, 
in  Christ's  name,  let  us  give  it.     [Applause.] 

The  Christ  needs  it.  It  is  all  his.  "Freely  ye  have  received, 
freely  give."  And  when  you  have  done  that,  your  last  sacrifice 
and  song  shall  be  to  Him  who  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  his  own  blood,  to  whom  be  glory  and  dominion  now  and 
forever.    Amen. 


II. 
THE  OBLIGATION. 


VII.  THE  DUTY  GF  THE  STRONGER  TG 
THE  WEAKER  RACES. 

VIII.  The  Supreme  Obligation  of  the  Hour. 
IX.  The  Challenge  of  the  City. 
X.  The  Call  to  Go  Forward. 


INTRODUCTION  BY   BISHOP  E.   R.   HENDRIX. 

King  Edward  yiL,  the  most  perfect  gentleman  in  Eurooe,  the  great 
diplomat,  never  did  a  more  gracious  thing  than  the  sending  as  his  repre- 
sentative to  this  country  of  this  great  gray  head  that  all  men  know. 
[Applause.]  We  hail  him  to-night  on  behalf  of  our  people  as  the  personal 
friend  of  William  E.  Gladstone  [Applause],  in  whose  Cabinet  he  sat  an 
honored  counselor.  We  hail  him  as  a  man  who,  like  Gladstone,  when  an 
Oxford  student  at  graduation,  had  the  "Double  First,"  the  highest  dis- 
tinction possible  in  an  English  university,  bestowed  upon  him.  [Applause.] 
We  hail  him  to-night  as  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  with  a 
period  of  twenty-three  years  as  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament,  and 
with  yet  a  longer  period,  and  who  has  won,  by  common  consent  of  his 
countrymen  and  of  the  members  of  Parliament,  the  title  of  the  most  accom- 
plished member  of  the  British  Parliament.  [Applause.]  The  man  of  let- 
ters in  pubHc  life  is  what  our  honored  guest  stands  for  before  the  world. 
While  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Oxford  he  made  a  practical  study 
of  our  own  great  country.  By  repeated  visits  and  the  weighing  and  sifting 
of  his  material  he  has  given  to  the  world  the  very  best  work  on  the  Amer- 
ican government  in  that  immortal  work :  "The  American  Commonwealth." 
[Applause.]  We  hail  him  to-night  as  the  great  humanitarian — the  one 
who  stood  for  "home  rule"  in  Ireland,  the  one  who  believed  that  the  Boer 
War  was  unnecessary  [Applause],  the  one  whose  eloquent  voice  was 
heard  with  Mr.  Gladstone's  in  denouncing  the  Bulgarian  atrocities.  [Ap- 
plause.] This  is  he.  Privy  Councilor,  member  of  the  Cabinet,  man  of  let- 
ters, whom  the  King  of  Great  Britain  sends  to  our  country  as  his  personal 
representative.  He  does  not  come  to  us  as  a  diplomat ;  he  does  not  seek 
to  bring  closer  relations  between  Great  Britain  and  America.  These 
nations  are  far  above  diplomacy:  they  are  held  in  bonds  of  kinship.  He 
comes  not  with  a  diplomat's  arts  to  win  our  confidence ;  he  had  that  before 
he  came.  He  speaks  straightforward  those  great  truths  which  we  believe 
in  common,  and  which  are  so  sacred  to  our  hearts.  We  hail  him  to-night 
as  the  representative  of  three  sovereigns.  The  year  that  Queen  Victoria 
was  crowned,  in  1838,  God  gave  her,  as  one  of  her  coronation  gifts  that 
should  help  to  perpetuate  the  glory  of  her  reign,  James  Bryce.  [Ap- 
plause.] And  so  during  that  long  reign  he  lived  and  wrought,  ever 
ripening  in  knowledge  and  influence.  As  his  great  chief,  unhappily  retired 
now  from  the  Premiership,  said  of  him:  "He  has  traveled  everywhere; 
he  has  even  been  to  the  top  of  Ararat;  he  has  read  everything;  he  knows 
everybody;  and  he  is  the  one  who  reflects  such  honor  upon  his  noble 
Queen — the  queenliest  of  women,  the  womanliest  of  queens."  He  lived  to 
see  her  great  reign  close  without  a  reproach,  to  see  her  imbedded  in  the 
hearts  of  her  people,  helping  to  establish  the  English  dynasty  and  exerting 
an  influence  which  will  be  felt  through  countless  centuries  to  come.  He 
serves  also  her  honored  son,  who  came  with  bowed  head  to  that  throne 
made  doubly  sacred  by  his  mother's  occupancy  of  it.  He  comes  as  the 
servant  and  representative  of  the  king  under  whom  he  has  served,  in  his 
Cabinet  and  as  an  honored  member  of  the  British  Parliament,^  standing, 
like  the  king  himself  does,  for  peace,  representing  what  is  best  in  English 
traditions  and  thought.  But,  thank  God,  to-night,  Mr.  Bryce,  you  come 
to  us  the  representative  of  another  Sovereign,  the  King  of  kings  and  the 
Lord  of  lords.  [Applause.]  You  represent  our  Protestant  rehgion;  you 
represent  our  holy  Christianity.  An  imperialist,  we  welcome  you  because 
we  are  imperialists,  believing  in  the  extension  of  a  kingdom  that  shall 
cover  all  the  earth  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth  shall  become  the  king- 
doms of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ.  [Applause.]  On  behalf  of  this  rep- 
resentative body  of  laymen,  it  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  welcome 
you  and  to  introduce  you  as  the  speaker  of  the  evening.  [Great  applause.] 
[In  honor  of  the  speaker  the  whole  audience  rose  to  their  feet.] 

(86) 


VII. 

THE  DUTY  OF  THE  STRONGER  TO  THE 
WEAKER  RACES. 

HON.  JAMES  BRYCE^  AMBASSADOR  FROM  GREAT  BRITAI^f. 

I  FEEL  emboldened  to  address  you  on 
the  topic  before  me  because  there  is  noth- 
ing which  has  brought  the  hearts  of 
Americans  and  EngHshmen  nearer  to- 
gether than  the  work  they  have  tried  to 
do  on  similar  lines  for  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  foreign  lands.  We  have  been  in 
this  modern  world  the  two  great  mission- 
ary countries.  We  have  not  only  felt  it 
to  be  one  of  our  highest  privileges  and 
duties  as  Christians  to  support  the  gospel 
in  all  countries,  but  we  have  also  done 
it  on  the  same  lines,  in  the  same  faith,  following  the  same  princi- 
ples, always  trusting  to  the  truth  and  not  to  force.  And  I  am 
glad  to  tell  you  that  wherever  I  have  traveled  (and  if  I  had  not 
traveled  in  many  countries,  where  I  have  seen  many  missions,  I 
should  not  attempt  to  address  you  to-night)  I  have  found  the 
American  and  English  missionaries  working  side  by  side,  in  the 
closest  relations,  always  helping  each  other. 

Now,  such  a  meeting  as  this  to-night  is  the  most  conclusive 
proof  of  the  interest  which  you  of  the  South  take  in  the  cause 
of  Christian  missions,  and  it  indicates  that  the  laymen  are  doing 
it ;  that  you  are  not  leaving  it  to  the  clergy  alone  to  tell  you  what 
your  duty  is,  but  have  met  to  confer  with  one  another  as  to  how 
it  may  best  be  performed.  Realizing  this,  it  is  not  necessary  for 
me  to  dwell  upon  the  good  that  is  being  done  by  missions  nor 
upon  the  duty  we  have  to  support  them.  This  Convention  alone 
is  a  sufficient  proof  of  that.  And  the  vigorous  religious  life 
which  is  pulsing  through  all  the  veins  of  the  South  finds  inspira- 
tion not  only  in  wanting  to  help  your  own  people,  but  in  wanting 
to  help  those  beyond. 

That  is  what  ought  to  be  felt  by  every  Christian  who  thinks 
for  a  moment  what  his  Christianity  means,  who  thinks  what  he 

(87) 


88  THE   OBLIGATIO]^. 

would  be  if  the  light  of  the  gospel  had  not  shone  upon  him.  He 
must  feel  that  the  very  highest  not  only  of  his  duties,  but  of  his 
privileges,  is  to  endeavor  to  give  that  light  to  others  upon  whom 
it  has  not  yet  fallen.  It  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that 
cometh  into  the  world.  There  is  no  greater  privilege  you  or  I 
can  have  than  to  help  that  light  to  shine  in  the  dark  places  of  the 
earth.  And  every  man  who  feels  not  only  what  he  owes  to  him- 
self, but  what  his  whole  country  owes  to  Christianity,  will  see 
that  his  country  is  foremost  in  the  work  of  missions.  Think  of 
what  you  in  America  and  we  in  England  would  be  if  we  had  not 
been  Christian  peoples  for  fourteen  hundred  years.  All  that  time, 
although  we  have  not  profited  as  we  should  have  done  by  its 
teachings,  Christianity  has  been  saving  us  from  many  at  least 
of  the  evils  in  which  our  pagan  forefathers  lay  sunk,  and  has  been 
leading  us  onward  and  upward  until  many  faults  and  vices  of  the 
Old  World  have  been  put  behind  us,  until  many  moral  truths  and 
ideals  essential  for  life  have  been  revealed  to  us  which  the  heathen 
world  has  never  known. 

If  you  should  take  our  Christianity  away  from  us,  you  would 
take  away  all  that  makes  our  true  national  greatness.  There- 
fore, though  we  do  not  ourselves  go  out  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature,  still  we  must  feel,  as  Christians,  that  there  is 
no  duty  nearer  to  us,  or  speaking  with  a  more  imperative  voice, 
than  the  duty  of  trying  to  spread  the  truth  of  the  gospel. 

It  was  through  Christ  that  there  was  first  revealed  the  essen- 
tial unity  of  all  mankind  and  that  all  men  were  born  brothers.  If 
we  believe  that,  we  have  a  duty  to  those  without  as  well  as  to 
those  within.  And  I  think  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  by  degrees 
we  have  come  more  and  more  to  feel  that  our  duty  in  supporting 
those  who  diffuse  gospel  truths  is  far  higher  than  any  that  we 
owe  to  the  particular  denomination  to  which  we  may  belong. 
Each  of  us  is  connected  with  some  particular  religious  body; 
sometimes  because  we  think  it  is  more  closely  conformable  to  the 
teachings  of  Scripture,  and  sometimes,  perhaps,  because  of  "our 
associations  in  early  life.  But  I  hope  we  have  reached  the  time 
when  we  feel  that  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity  by  which  we 
live  are  higher  and  deeper  than  any  differences  that  divide  Chris- 
tian denominations.  When  we  feel  that,  we  want  to  give  the 
heathen  not  what  belongs  to  any  one  special  denomination  or 
another,  but  the  truths,  especially  those  contained  in  the  words  of 


IHE   DUTY   OF   THE   STRONGER   TO   THE    WEAKER   RACES.         89 

our  Lord  himself,  which  are  the  very  foundations  of  our  Chris- 
tian faith.  With  this  reaHzation  of  the  essentials  of  Christianity 
and  of  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  work  together  will  come  also 
a  new  and  higher  conception  of  the  work  of  Christian  missions. 

Time  was  when  the  success  of  a  mission  was  measured  by  the 
number  of  congregations  which  the  missionary  was  able  to  form 
in  some  heathen  land  to  which  he  was  sent  and  the  number  of 
converts  which  in  each  year  he  was  able  to  add  to  the  fold.  That 
was  natural.  It  was  well  that  little  centers  should  be  built  up; 
it  was  well  that  the  converts  be  made ;  but  too  much  stress  was 
laid  upon  that  as  if  it  had  been  the  whole  work.  We  have  come 
now  to  a  larger  and  broader  view.  The  preaching  of  Christianity 
is  part  of  a  great  movement  by  which  we  are  trying  to  reach  not 
only  the  soul  of  the  individual  whom  we  may  desire  to  convert, 
but  also  the  whole  people.  We  want  to  raise  the  people  as  a 
whole,  to  lift  them  out  of  the  mire  of  the  ignorance  and  vice  and 
the  low  conceptions  of  Deity  and  humanity  in  which  they  have 
been  lying,  and  to  set  them  upon  a  higher  plane  with  nobler  ideals. 
That  new  view  of  missions  is  the  Christlike  one  and  open  to  all, 
although  we  may  be  divided  as  to  the  form  in  which  essential 
truths  had  best  be  given. 

Something  of  the  same  kind  has  happened  at  home.  You  who 
carry  on  the  evangelistic  work  in  the  cities  know  that  whenever 
you  establish  a  home  mission  in  the  crowded  slums  of  a  great 
city  you  try  not  merely  to  preach  to  the  people,  not  merely  to 
learn  the  languages  of  new  immigrants  from  Europe  and  to  give 
them  Christian  ideas,  but  also  to  raise  their  life  in  every  phase, 
to  teach  them  cleanliness  and  the  care  of  health,  to  give  them 
better  views  of  social  duty,  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  reading,  to 
gather  them  together  in  little  social  meetings — in  one  way  or 
another  to  raise  their  conception  of  what  life  should  be.  When 
you  do  that,  you  make  them  all  the  fitter  to  receive  the  gospel. 
And  I  believe  that  those  who  have  conducted  evangelistic  work 
of  this  kind  have  found  that  the  work  advanced  far  more  rapidly 
in  this  fashion. 

So  is  it  also  when  we  preach  the  gospel  among  the  heathen. 
We  lift  them  altogether,  and  desire  not  only  to  make  Christians 
of  them,  but  also  to  free  them  from  the  base,  low  life  they  have 
led  and  from  their  unworthy  conceptions  of  the  divinity  of  which 
they  have  sometimes  had  glimmerings.    Thus  missions  must  now 


90  THE   OBLIGATION. 

be  regarded  as  parts  of  a  great  world  movement — the  influence 
now  exercised  by  the  civilized  upon  the  uncivilized  or  savage 
peoples. 

There  is  in  our  time  more  than  ever  there  was  before  a  con- 
tact of  the  civilized  and  the  uncivilized  all  over  the  earth.  The 
world  has  grown  smaller;  steam  and  electricity  have  brought  its 
parts  together;  and  as  the  civilized  races  have  spread  out  over  its 
surface,  there  is  no  place  where  their  influence  is  not  felt;  and 
with  the  exception  of  two  ancient  empires  in  the  East,  pretty 
nearly  every  part  of  the  world  has  been  brought  under  the  con- 
trol of  some  of  the  white  civilized  races,  and  even  those  empires 
are  now  in  close  contact  with  white  races.  Now,  that  is  a  new 
phenomenon.  And  under  these  circumstances  missions  are  in- 
evitable, because  the  civilized  and  the  uncivilized  are  being 
brought  together ;  and  if  Christianity  is  not  brought  to  bear  upon 
those  uncivilized  races  with  which  we  are  now  coming  in  con- 
tact, their  last  state  may  be  worse  than  their  first.  I  shall  pres- 
ently come  back  to  that  point.  Meantime  let  me  as  a  traveler — 
a  traveler  who  has  seen  missionaries  at  work  in  a  good  many 
parts  of  the  world — bear  testimony  to  the  splendid  work  which  is 
being  done  in  our  own  time  as  well  as  in  times  past  by  Christian 
missionaries.  There  have  not  been  any  nobler  examples  of  devo- 
tion to  duty,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  the  renunciation  of  the  ordinary 
pleasures  and  joys  of  the  world  for  the  sake  of  a  higher  calling 
than  those  which  our  missionaries  have  given  during  the  last 
eighty  years.  I  want  to  pay  especial  tribute  to  the  work  which  is 
being  done  by  the  many  missionaries  of  this  country.  I  have  seen 
them  particularly  in  two  places :  first  in  India,  where  their  work 
is  admirable,  and  where  some  of  your  missionaries  are  the  wisest 
men,  who  know  as  much  about  India  and  are  as  much  worthy  to 
be  listened  to  on  that  subject  as  any  men  I  have  met.  And  I 
want  also  to  pay  a  tribute  to  what  they  have  done  in  the  Turkish 
East,  where  they  are  placed  among  Mohammedans  and  certain 
non-Protestant  churches.  Those  Eastern  Christian  peoples  have 
suffered  a  great  deal,  and  they  have,  I  fear,  a  great  deal  yet  to 
suffer.  I  need  not  tell  you  what  is  the  unhappy  life  of  many 
Christians  in  that  country.  Some  thirteen  years  ago  tens  of 
thousands  were  murdered;  many  of  them  were  women,  who 
might  have  saved  their  lives  if  they  had  spoken  three  words  to 
renounce  Christianity ;  yet,  like  the  martyrs  of  the  apostolic  age. 


THE   DUTY   OF   THE    STRONGER   TO   THE   WEAKER   RACES.         9I 

they  refused  to  sacrifice  their  Christian  faith,  and  went  willingly 
to  death  for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  they  loved.  Among  these  peo- 
ples it  has  been  the  duty  of  your  Christian  missionaries  to  labor. 
And  the  best  work  that  has  ever  been  done  among  them  has  been 
by  your  American  missionaries.  Whenever  I  wanted  really  to 
know  what  was  happening,  whenever  I  wanted  to  enable  my 
friends  to  find  some  means  of  relieving  the  famine-stricken  and 
unhappy  people,  whenever  I  have  desired  to  find  out  what  could 
be  done  politically  to  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  these  oppressed 
and  martyred  races,  I  have  always  found  that  the  best  thing  to 
do  was  to  turn  to  the  American  missionaries.  And  I  have  often 
heard  from  members  of  these  ancient  Churches  the  warmest  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  great  services  which  your  missionaries  have 
rendered  them. 

Now,  when  one  thinks  of  the  splendid  work  which  missionaries 
have  done,  when  one  thinks  also  of  how  long  they  have  been  at 
work,  and  when  one  thinks  of  the  advantages  which  the  mission- 
aries of  the  great  civilized  nations  ought  to  have,  are  you  not 
sometimes  surprised  that  Christianity  has  not  overspread  the 
whole  world  ?  Why  is  it  that  more  progress  has  not  been  made  ? 
Think  of  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  when  Paul  and  the  other 
apostles  went  out  to  make  those  first  missionary  tours,  recorded 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  They  went  to  a  few  in  number, 
through  a  pagan  world,  a  world  which  was  dominated  by  ancient 
and  powerful  religions,  where  all  the  authorities  and  secular  pow- 
ers were  on  the  side  of  the  old  religions,  and  where  before  long 
those  powers,  the  emperors  and  their  governors,  put  forth  their 
whole  strength  to  resist  and  extinguish  Christianity ;  and  a  series 
of  cruel  persecutions  took  place,  extending  over  nearly  three  cen- 
turies, by  which  it  was  attempted  to  root  out  the  new  religion 
from  the  earth.  Those  persecutions  failed.  Christianity  spread 
itself  over  the  empire  against  all  the  power  the  empire  could  put 
forth,  and  made  its  way  in  the  teeth  of  persecutions  until  at  last 
it  grew  so  strong  that  the  emperor  was  obliged  to  recognize  it ; 
and  from  that  time  forth  it  became  the  dominant  religion.  It  did 
that  work  in  three  centuries. 

Since  that  time  nineteen  hundred  years  have  passed,  and  Chris- 
tianity has  had  all  the  material  forces  of  the  world  on  its  side, 
nearly  all  the  power,  all  the  learning,  and  all  the  civilization, 
except  during  a  short  period  when  Mohammedanism  was  at  its 


g2  tHE   OBLIGATION. 

height.  Why,  then,  has  it  not  succeeded  in  converting-  the  whole 
earth?  And  why  does  not  the  name  "Christian"  belong  to  the 
entire  globe,  as  it  belonged  to  the  later  Roman  Empire  in  an- 
tiquity ? 

That  is,  indeed,  a  question  worth  asking.  It  is  a  question  I  am 
sure  you  have  often  asked  yourselves.  It  is  far  better  for  us  to 
reflect  on  what  we  have  not  accomplished,  and  try  to  discover 
why  it  is  that  we  have  failed,  than  it  is  to  exult  in  what  we  have 
accomplished.  It  may  be  that  we  shall  discover  some  of  the 
causes  which  have  weakened  us  and  prevented  us  from  obtaining, 
with  material  advantages  on  our  side,  what  the  apostles  and  their 
successors  obtained  with  all  the  forces  and  powers  against  them. 
I  am  going  to  give  one  reason ;  it  is  not  the  only  reason,  but  it 
is  a  reason  which  has  often  been  brought  forcibly  home  to  me 
when  I  have  been  traveling  and  watching  the  limited  success 
which  has  come  to  missions  in  some  foreign  countries  where  you 
cannot  blame  the  missionaries  because  their  zeal  and  devotion 
are  evident. 

The  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  only  one  of  many  things  which 
have  been  taken  to  the  uncivilized  during  the  last  four  centuries 
through  their  contact  with  the  civilized  races,  and  some  of  those 
other  things  have  largely  neutralized  it.  That  contact  began 
with  the  discovery  of  America  by  Christopher  Columbus.  What 
was  the  first  thing  that  happened  when  the  Spaniards  and  the 
Portuguese  began  to  settle  in  the  American  islands  and  conti- 
nents? One  of  their  objects  was  to  convert  the  heathen.  They 
took  out  a  great  many  friars  with  them,  and  set  them  to  preach- 
ing, and  the  cross  was  carried  up  and  down  the  islands,  and  the 
friars  preached ;  and  the  natives,  whether  or  not  they  understood 
and  believed,  were  at  any  rate  baptized  and  compelled  to  say  that 
they  were  Christians.  We  cannot  blame  the  Spaniards  for  want 
of  zeal,  whatever  else  we  may  blame  them  for.  They  thought 
they  were  saving  souls,  whether  by  persuasion  or  force ;  and  I 
suppose  they  would  have  thought  it  wrong  not  to  use  carnal 
weapons  in  that  warfare.  But  the  Spaniards  did  something  more 
than  this.  Though  the  friars  came  to  preach,  the  adventurers 
coming  along  with  them  came  with  a  great  thirst  and  greed  for 
gold.  That  was  what  they  sought  in  the  New  World.  Finding 
gold  ornaments  among  the  people,  they  asked  where  they  came 
from;  they  hunted  for  the  gold  mines,  and  put  the  natives  to 


THE   DUTY   OF   THE   STRONGER   TO   THE   WEAKER   RACES.         93 

work  in  them.  They  set  them  also  to  till  the  soil,  and  those  poor, 
weak,  simple-minded  natives,  accustomed  to  raise  just  enough 
food  to  support  themselves,  and  dancing  in  the  sun  in  the  care- 
less way  of  the  savage,  were  driven  to  work  under  the  stern  eye, 
and  perhaps  the  scourge,  of  a  Spanish  owner  and  taskmaster  until 
in  the  islands  of  Hispaniola  (now  Hayti  and  Cuba)  the  whole 
population  died  out  under  the  severities  of  the  Spanish  rule  with- 
in thirty  or  forty  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  islands.  The 
same  thing  happened  in  most  of  the  other  Spanish  islands.  Wher- 
ever the  Spaniard  went  he  seized  the  land  of  the  people,  reduced 
them  to  slavery,  and  forced  them  to  work  in  the  mines  for  him. 

That  was  probably  the  most  harsh  and  terrible  form  which  the 
contact  of  a  civilized  race  with  an  uncivilized  ever  took.  It  ended 
with  the  extermination  of  the  natives.  And  yet  something  of 
that  kind,  though  not  so  bad,  has  been  going  on  ever  since.  Wher- 
ever the  strong  races  who,  like  the  Spaniards,  had  horses  and 
firearms,  races  with  the  appliances  of  civilization  at  their  com- 
mand, have  come  into  contact  with  weaker  races,  that  sort  of 
thing  has  happened.  Everywhere  the  native  has  gone  to  the  wall. 
Sometimes,  where  the  native  race  was  weak,  it  has  been  extin- 
guished; it  either  dies  out  under  hard  treatment,  as  did  the  na- 
tives of  the  Antilles,  or  under  the  diseases  which  the  white  man 
brings  with  him  or  through  use  of  the  liquor  which  he  has  brought 
them.  In  one  way  or  another  the  native  races,  if  not  extinguished, 
have  at  any  rate  become  demoralized.  They  lose  what  have  been 
their  native  customs  and  whatever  strength  these  customs  had,  and 
find  out  that  it  is  far  easier  to  acquire  the  vices  of  the  white  man 
than  to  imitate  his  virtues. 

I  do  not  want  to  overstate  the  case.  I  do  not  deny  that  some 
of  this  was  inevitable.  The  contact  of  a  superior  civilized  race 
with  a  barbarous  race  must  always  bring  certain  evils  to  the 
weaker.  But  the  evils  need  not  have  been  so  great  if  the  civilized 
men  who  went  among  the  natives  had  only  behaved  like  Chris- 
tians. Unfortunately,  that  was  just  what  they  did  not  do.  There 
were  always  a  few  good  men  among  them  who  tried  to  protect 
the  natives,  men  even  among  the  first  Spanish  conquerors  (cer- 
tainly some  of  the  Spanish  clergy,  who  did  all  they  could)  ;  but 
the  forces  of  rapine  and  avarice  and  the  sort  of  contempt  which 
the  strong  man  feels  for  the  weak  have  brought  little  but  suffer- 
ing to  these  weaker  men.    The  land  of  the  native  was  very  often 


94  THE  OBLIGATION. 

taken  without  giving  him  anything  for  it,  and  he  was  driven  away 
if  not  killed.  The  trader  who  went  among  the  natives  cheated 
them,  and  did  what  was  even  worse :  he  sold  them  vile  liquor  that 
ruined  them  body  and  soul.  And  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  that  is 
going  on  in  some  places  still.  It  would  have  been  a  good  thing 
for  the  natives  if  the  art  of  distillation  had  never  been  discovered. 

And  yet  it  was  only  the  other  day  that  we  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  the  tremendous  evils  we  have  wrought  among  native  peoples 
by  the  sale  of  drink.  It  does  harm  enough  among  white  people, 
but  it  does  far  more  among  a  savage  or  semicivilized  race.  They 
are  not  used  to  it  or  seasoned  to  it  as  in  a  certain  way,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  a  number  of  our  population  have  become.  It  demoralizes 
them ;  it  works  like  poison  upon  them ;  it  destroys  them. 

Now,  these  things  have  had  a  great  effect  upon  the  work  of 
Christianity.  How  was  it  possible  for  the  natives  not  to  look  at 
the  practice  of  the  Christian  as  well  as  his  preaching  ?  The  mis- 
sionary represented  a  religion  of  justice,  of  peace,  and  of  love. 
But  with  the  missionary  came  the  man  who  tried  to  take  away 
the  land  of  the  native  or  sold  him  worthless  goods  or  intoxicated 
him  with  his  liquor.  How  was  it  possible  for  the  natives,  when 
they  saw  these  men  who  called  themselves  "Christians"  just  as  did 
the  missionaries,  not  to  feel  that  there  was  a  great  variance  between 
the  practice  and  the  doctrines  of  this  religion?  The  saying  is  at- 
tributed to  some  African  prince  that  the  process  going  on  in  his 
country  was:  "First  missionary,  then  trader,  then  army."  The 
missionary  came  first,  and  well  it  would  have  been  if  he  had  been 
left  to  do  his  work  alone.  But  before  the  missionary  had  suc- 
ceeded in  Christianizing  the  people  the  trader  came  to  undo  the 
missionary's  work.  And  even  where  the  white  man  did  not  rob 
or  injure  the  natives  there  is  something  in  his  attitude  when  he 
finds  himself  among  an  uncivilized  people  that  is  not  kindly,  that 
is  not  Christian.  He  acts  toward  them  as  if  they  were  persons 
to  whom  he  can  do  whatever  he  likes. 

If  any  of  you  have  ever  traveled  in  a  foreign  country  among 
a  savage  people,  you  will  know  what  I  mean  when  I  say  that  it 
takes  almost  the  temper  of  a  saint  to  keep  you  from  treating  with 
arrogance  or  scorn  a  people  who  are  very  much  weaker  than 
yourself  and  who  frequently  provoke  you  by  an  astonishing  want 
of  understanding.    Nothing  but  a  sense  of  human  duty  and  Chris- 


THE  DUTY   OF   THE   STRONGER   TO   THE    WEAKER   RACES.         95 

tian  duty  will  prevent  a  man  from  acting  harshly  or  unfairly  when 
he  is  placed  in  such  conditions. 

Now,  this  attitude  of  the  civilized  stronger  race  has  been  one 
of  the  great  obstacles  to  the  advance  of  Christianity,  In 
Africa,  for  instance,  and  in  India,  if  the  conduct  of  Christians 
had  been  on  a  level  with  their  teachings,  large  parts  at  least  of 
those  countries  would  to-day  be  Christian  countries. 

There  were  times  when  the  governments  themselves  behaved 
very  badly.  It  has  been  only  in  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years  that 
Christian  governments  have  awakened  to  their  duties.  Govern- 
ments have  latterly  tried,  and  I  think  they  are  honestly  trying, 
to  protect  the  natives.  This  is  not  yet  the  case  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  There  are  lamentable  exceptions.  But  it  is  the  case  wher- 
ever either  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain  holds  sway.  I  am 
perfectly  certain  that  your  government  and  my  government  are 
doing  their  best  wherever  their  flags  fly  to  protect  the  native  in 
every  way  they  can.  And  I  can  say  from  having  traveled  in 
India  that  it  has  been  the  sole  and  whole-hearted  object  of  the 
English  government  to  administer  absolutely  equal  justice  in  India 
between  the  European  and  the  native  and  to  give  the  native  as 
good  a  government  as  the  circumstances  of  the  country  will  per- 
mit. 

But  even  where  the  government  is  good,  it  is  possible  for  the 
private  adventurer  to  do  a  great  deal  of  harm.  He  it  is  who  dis- 
credits Christianity.  While  the  missionary  is  preaching  the  pri- 
vate adventurer  is  going  about  cheating  the  native  and  selling 
liquor  to  him,  trying  to  get  his  lands  from  him,  treating  him  always 
with  scorn  and  contempt.  That  is  what  stands  in  the  way  of  the 
progress  of  our  religion ;  and  that  is  why  Christianity  spreads 
more  rapidly  while  adversity  and  persecution  give  it  the  oppor- 
tunity to  show  the  distinctively  Christian  virtues  of  faith,  con- 
stancy, humility,  and  love  than  when  all  the  power  of  this  earth 
is  on  its  side.  The  Christian  religion  advanced  faster  against  the 
hostility  of  Roman  emperors  like  Nero,  Decius,  and  Diocletian 
than  it  has  advanced  with  all  the  strength  of  civilization  behind  it, 
because  the  temptations  to  abuse  strength  are  great  and  have  been 
yielded  to.  It  is  not  that  any  power  has  gone  out  of  the  gospel ; 
it  is  not  that  Christian  nations  at  home  are  any  less  zealous ;  but 
it  is  that  other  men  have  gone  on  undoing  the  Christian  mission- 
ary's work  all  the  time  he  has  been  preaching. 


96  THE  OBLIGATION. 

If  that  be  true,  what  is  our  duty  as  Christian  men  and  women? 
That  is  the  point  I  want  to  bring  before  you  to-night.  I  only 
venture  to  do  so  because,  having  seen  something  of  the  contact  of 
civiHzed  and  unciviHzed  races,  and  having  watched  the  difficulties 
that  hamper  the  missionary,  I  am  anxious  that  all  of  you  should 
know  what  the  traveler  feels  to  be  the  duty  of  every  nation  which 
calls  itself  Christian  in  all  those  countries  where  it  can  exert  its 
influence.  That  duty  certainly  is  not  to  ask  the  government  to 
use  force.  We  want  no  more  action  like  that  of  the  Spaniards 
who  carried  the  whip  and  the  sword  while  the  friars  carried  the 
crucifix.  We  believe  the  blessing  of  God  will  not  rest  upon  any 
such  method. 

We  even  desire  that  the  governments  shall  not  give  any  polit- 
ical advantage  to  the  missionaries.  The  more  that  missions  are 
severed  from  political  power,  the  better.  But  we  do  desire  that 
you  should  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  civilized  governments 
which  desire  that  Christianity  shall  bring  justice  and  peace  with 
it,  and  that  the  native  shall  be  protected. 

Now,  you  can  do  that.  You  can  strengthen  the  hands  of  these 
governments;  you  can  encourage  your  own  government  to  lay 
down  and  carry  out  rules  for  the  protection  of  the  native,  which 
I  am  sure  the  United  States  government  does  desire  to  carry  out 
honestly  and  in  the  right  spirit. 

We  in  Britain  want  to  do  the  same;  and  we  are  always  ap- 
pealing to  our  government  and  assuring  them  that  they  will  have 
and  do  now  have  the  spirit  of  the  British  public  behind  them  in 
endeavoring  to  protect  the  native.  And  I  trust  that  if  there  are 
still  parts  of  the  world  in  which  the  natives  are  not  being  pro- 
tected the  public  opinion  of  America  and  of  England  will  speak 
out  and  say  that  it  demands  that  the  natives  everywhere  have  care 
and  protection. 

Our  duties  do  not  end  with  subscribing  to  the  missionary  socie- 
ties. It  is  our  duty  to  watch  wherever  over  the  world  the  advance 
of  Christianity  is  being  hindered  by  bad  practices  of  nominally 
Christian  men.  Therefore,  let  us  restrain  the  adventurer  and  the 
trader  if  he  wants  to  wrong  the  natives  by  force  or  fraud,  and 
absolutely  prohibit  the  sale  of  liquor  to  the  natives.  And  let  us 
also  support  the  government  in  endeavoring  to  have  the  natives 
considerately  treated.  They  ought  to  be  regarded  as  children; 
they  ought  to  have  the  measure  of  indulgence  which  is  given  to 


THE   DUTY   OF  THE   STRONGER   TO   THE    WEAKER   RACES.         97 

children;  and  under  the  conditions  in  which  their  life  has  been 
passed,  they  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  rise  at  once  to  the  level 
of  civilized  man. 

The  position  is  now  becoming  critical.  You  are  often  told — 
and  you  are  told  with  truth — that  this  is  a  critical  time  for  civi- 
lized countries.  It  is  a  time  when  there  are  all  sorts  of  new  move- 
ments, all  sorts  of  new  ideas,  when  many  ancient  landmarks  have 
been  removed,  or  at  least  when  some  people  are  trying  to  remove 
them;  it  is  a  time,  particularly  in  your  country,  when  you  are 
receiving  great  new  masses  of  population ;  and  in  Europe  it  is  a 
time  when  all  sorts  of  new  political  movements  are  beginning  to 
agitate  the  old  countries.  But  the  critical  feature  of  the  time  is 
not  so  remarkable  in  civilized  countries  as  it  is  in  the  racial  situa- 
tion of  the  world  at  large,  because,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  the  new 
forces  visible  in  Europe  and  America,  which  are  affecting  your 
political  and  social  life,  may  continue  working  for  the  century  or 
more  before  there  will  have  been  any  permanent  far-reaching 
change. 

But  as  regards  the  relation  of  the  races  of  mankind  in  the 
world,  if  you  will  look  at  the  changes  which  have  taken  place 
within  the  last  fifty  years,  you  will  see  that  by  the  time  another 
fifty  years  has  passed  the  whole  globe  will  have  been  overspread 
by  and  come  under  the  control  of  the  civilized  peoples.  If  you 
will  except  the  two  great  empires  of  China  and  Japan,  Old  World 
empires  which  have  suddenly  come  to  the  front  again  in  our  time 
by  entering  the  circle  of  the  civilization  which  they  had  so  long 
excluded,  you  will  find  that  all  the  rest  of  the  earth's  surface  is 
now  under  the  control  of  a  few  white  races ;  and  before  long  all 
the  native  organizations  will  have  disappeared.  The  native  tribes 
will  have  been  broken  up,  native  kingdoms  will  have  vanished, 
native  customs  will  have  gone;  everywhere  the  white  man  will 
have  established  his  influence  and  destroyed  the  old  native  ways 
of  life.  Things  which  have  lasted  from  the  Stone  Age  until 
now  are  at  last  coming  to  a  perpetual  end,  and  will  be  no  more. 
They  will  vanish  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  This  is  a  phenom- 
enon which  has  never  happened  before  and  can  never  happen 
again. 

Why  is  the  position  so  critical  ?  Because,  when  all  these  savage 
and  semicivilized  peoples  have  lost  their  ancient  organizations, 
their  ancient  customs,  and  their  ancient  beliefs,  they  will  along 

7 


^8  THE  OBLIGATION. 

with  these  things  lose  also  their  ancient  morality,  such  as  it  was, 
which  had  its  sanctions  in  their  ancient  customs  and  beliefs.  If 
you  destroy  these,  their  morality  falls  to  the  ground  and  is  gone, 
and  they  are  left  with  nothing,  adrift,  rudderless  upon  a  wide  and 
shoreless  sea.  You  may  say  that  their  customs  were  often  bad, 
their  morality  often  immorality.  That  is  true.  Much  of  it  ought 
to  disappear.  But  at  the  same  time  some  of  these  old  customs 
had  a  certain  beneficial  control  over  their  conduct;  they  molded 
their  lives,  and  in  many  cases  they  were  a  foundation  for  a  kind 
of  morality  which  prescribes  behavior  tending  to  virtue,  such  as 
good  faith  (at  least  with  one  another),  hospitality,  and  compas- 
sion toward  the  helpless.  There  are  savage  peoples  who  have 
these  virtues,  and  you  will  find  they  rested  on  beliefs  which  are 
now  perishing. 

That  is  why  the  present  moment  is  such  a  precious  and  critical 
one.  If  these  peoples  are  losing  the  old  customs  and  beliefs  which 
have  ruled  them  thus  far,  the  time  has  come  to  give  them  some- 
thing new  and  better.  This  is  the  moment;  this  is  the  accepted 
time;  this  is  the  day  when  God,  speaking  to  us  who  have  over- 
spread the  world,  us  who  have  taken  these  people  under  our  con- 
trol, commands  us  to  feel  the  moral  responsibility  that  lies  upon 
us  and  the  Christian  responsibility  that  lies  upon  us  to  think  for 
and  care  for  these  weaker  brethren.  If  they  are  under  our  influ- 
ence, they  are  in  our  keeping,  and  we  shall  be  responsible  to  God 
for  them.  We  have  disturbed  their  ancient  ways  of  life  for  our 
own  interests,  because  we  went  among  them  some  few  doubtless 
with  a  desire  to  do  good,  but  the  great  majority  from  a  desire  to 
make  money  and  to  exploit  the  world's  resources  for  the  ipurposes 
of  commerce.  We  are  taking  the  agricultural  wealth  from  the 
soil,  the  forests  from  the  hills,  and  the  minerals  out  of  the  rocks 
for  our  own  benefit. 

Are  we  to  do  this  and  yet  not  be  responsible  in  God's  sight  if 
we  fail  to  exert  all  our  efforts  to  give  these  people  by  our  own 
conduct  a  just  view  of  the  Christianity  we  desire  to  impart  to 
them  ?  They  are,  through  the  will  of  God,  in  our  keeping.  And 
it  is  even  more  our  duty  than  it  ever  was  before  to  treat  them 
with  justice  and  tenderness  while  we  seek  to  lead  them  into  the 
true  Light. 


GKOUP  OF  eONFERKNCE  LAY  LEADEKS. 

Regiii  at  top,  and  read  frmn  left  to  right: 

K.    II.  \Vh.STKI<,    I>1<.    S.    (  .     lAIlM,    |.   S.    SIKKI,,    C.    11.    IKEI.ANI),  JNO.    P.    PK  ?■  IV  JOHN.    I- .    1«.    IIIUMAS, 
DK.    |.    W.    V\L(ill.\V,    r.    M.    DANIKI,,    T.J.    W.V  IKI NS.  JL  l)<i  K    A.    K.    DAKNKir. 


VIII. 

THE  SUPREME  OBLIGATION  OF  THE 
HOUR. 


The  most  mysterious  thing  in  the  world  almost  is  the  influence  the 
heavenly  bodies  have  upon  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  as  twice  every  day  they 
are  lifted  heavenward  to  be  swept  back  far  into  the  heart  of  the  continent. 
Nobody  can  explain  it  all.  Nor  has  anybody  been  able  to  explain  that 
mysterious  sense  of  obligation  that  sways  men.  How  do  men  come  by  it? 
The  animals  do  not  have  it;  they  cannot  think  profoundly;  they  have  but 
instincts,  and  think  only  things.  Man  thinks  thoughts,  invisible  thoughts. 
That  shows  his  alliance  by  nature  to  God.  And  the  more  profoundly  he 
thinks,  the  more  loftily  he  thinks,  the  nearer  to  God  he  is.  Man  belongs 
to  the  invisible  worlds. 

And  when  there  comes  into  a  man's  life  a  power  that  summons  him  to 
do  the  best  in  him,  that  stirs  motives  that  he  never  knew  of  before,  that 
raises  his  energies  until  there  has  come  a  new  breath  into  his  humanity, 
that  tells  of  God  moving  upon  man — this  same  power  is  going  to  give  man 
life  and  to  give  him  life  eternal.  It  is  God.  He  has  registered  himself 
in  the  gift  of  his  Son,  who  came  among  men  teaching  a  salvation  that 
gives  men  a  measureless  depth,  breadth,  and  height  in  the  love  of  God, 
who  thus  registers  his  own  infinite  nature  and  makes  it  manifest  in  man. 

(lOO) 


VIII. 
THE  SUPREME  OBLIGATION!  OF  THE  HOUR. 

BISHOP  E.   R.  HENDRIX,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

My  Dear  Brethren:  Will  you  pray  while 
I  speak?  This  is  the  most  solemn  hour 
in  your  Hfe  or  in  mine.  This  is  "high  tide 
on  the  coast  of  Lincolnshire;"  and  the 
tides  of  the  Spirit,  like  the  tides  of  the 
ocean,  register  themselves  in  terms  of  the 
shore. 

You  never  saw  high  tide  in  midocean; 
no  man  has  ever  seen  it  there.  We  know 
there  is  high  tide  as  we  study  the  land. 
We  know  these  accumulated  waters  have 
been  lifted  up  to  the  bosom  of  God  and  sent  back  to  bless  the 
earth ;  and  as  they  speed  onward  toward  the  land  the  putrid  shore 
is  cleansed;  as  they  speed  shoreward  the  belated  merchantman 
that  could  not  get  over  the  bar  is  lifted,  and  the  ocean  hurls  itself 
in  mighty  tidal  rivers  far  into  the  heart  of  the  continent.  Then 
we  know  there  has  been  high  tide  at  sea. 

So  it  is  with  the  tides  of  the  Spirit.  God  manifests  himself 
in  such  a  time  as  this;  and  this  is  the  proof  of  the  invisible, 
when  it  is  registered  in  terms  of  the  visible.  The  proof  of  the 
existence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  seen  when  he  moves  upon  human 
spirits.  This  was  what  Pentecost  meant.  It  was  God,  the  Spirit, 
registering  himself  in  terms  of  consecrated  manhood ;  when  young 
men  saw  visions,  when  old  men  dreamed  dreams,  when  the  Church 
was  born  again  to  a  new  life,  to  a  holy  zeal,  to  a  larger  consecra- 
tion, to  a  wider  mission.  That  was  the  way  in  which  the  tides  of 
the  Spirit  registered  themselves.  The  apostles  displayed  it  of  old, 
when  men  were  speaking  in  many  tongues,  when  there  was  the 
glory  of  holy  zeal  upon  their  brow  and  in  their  speech,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  poured  out  among  men. 

And  so  it  is  in  our  day ;  so  it  is,  thank  God,  to-night.  God  is 
registering  himself  in  our  methods,  in  our  work,  in  our  organiza- 

(lOl) 


102  THE   OBLIGATION. 

tion,  thank  God,  and  from  this  time  forward,  I  trust,  in  our  whole 
lives. 

O  what  a  motto  to  take  from  this  great  gathering,  "Missionary 
Work  Is  a  Man's  Work !"  Don't  leave  it  longer  to  the  children 
and  the  women.  [Applause.]  Let's  recognize  God's  claim  upon 
our  manhood.  Take  home  with  you  that  other  great  motto:  "I 
would  rather  save  a  million  souls  than  a  million  dollars."  [Ap- 
plause,] And  go  home  to  take  God  into  partnership  with  you. 
Lay  up  your  treasure  in  heaven ;  transmute  your  gold  into  immor- 
tal spirits  saved  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  O  let  there  be  a  great 
company  from  the  heathen  world  to  welcome  you  into  everlasting 
habitations !  Ours  is  the  conquering  Lord.  And  when  I  look  out 
on  the  conquering  march  of  the  strong  Son  of  God,  I  find  that  he 
has  never  touched  a  life  that  would  listen  to  him  that  he  did  not 
master.  He  mastered  Matthew,  with  his  passion  for  gold;  and 
on  that  day  he  left  his  bank  and  became  an  apostle  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  mastered  Peter,  with  his  passion  for  the  sea, 
the  strongest  passion  almost  known  to  men ;  and  on  that  day  he 
left  his  nets  and  went  gladly  to  follow  Jesus,  and  became  a  fisher 
of  men. 

Jesus  weak  ?  "Look  at  the  men  he  has  mastered  !"  Why,  it  is 
he  who  has  made  the  great  nations  of  the  world.  The  leading 
nations  of  the  world  to-day  are  Christian  nations.  The  great  na- 
vies of  the  world  to-day  belong  to  Christian  peoples.  The  wealth 
of  the  world  to-day  is  in  Christian  hands.  There  is  no  heathen 
nation  in  the  world  to-day  that  can  go  to  war  without  the  consent 
of  these  Christian  nations  that  hold  the  purse  of  the  world. 

The  intellect  of  the  world  to-day  bows  before  Jesus.  The  heart 
of  the  world  to-day,  bleeding  to  the  core,  responds  to  the  call  of 
Jesus.  I  thank  God  the  capital  of  the  world  is  being  held  under 
his  scarred  hand.  O  Son  of  God,  lift  us  all  up  to  thee,  and  then 
hurl  us  out  like  the  tides  to  bless  every  shore  under  heaven  !  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Jesus  not  only  mastered  the  great  minds  of  the  world ;  he  made 
them.  It  was  he  that  summoned  them  to  their  best  thinking;  it 
was  he  that  deepened  their  motives  of  life ;  it  was  he  that  called 
out  their  best  energies.  "My  sheep  hear  my  voice."  Obedience 
to  him,  response  to  his  call,  is  knowledge  of  his  abvmdant  life. 
But  the  measure  of  a  man's  responsiveness  is  the  measure  of  his 
greatness.    Responsiveness  is  but  man's  responding  to  God,  recog- 


THE   SUPREME   OBLIGATION   OF   THE   HOUR.  IO3 

nizing  God's  claim,  seeking  to  meet  the  obligations  that  God  puts 
before  us  and  on  us. 

The  most  mysterious  thing  in  the  world  almost  is  the  influence 
the  heavenly  bodies  have  upon  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  as  twice 
every  day  they  are  lifted  heavenward  to  be  swept  back  far  into 
the  heart  of  the  continent.  Nobody  can  explain  it  all.  Nor  has 
anybody  been  able  to  explain  that  mysterious  sense  of  obligation 
that  sways  men.  How  do  men  come  by  it?  The  animals  do  not 
have  it;  they  cannot  think  profoundly;  they  have  but  instincts, 
and  think  only  things.  Man  thinks  thoughts,  invisible  thoughts. 
That  shows  his  alliance  by  nature  to  God,  And  the  more  pro- 
foundly he  thinks,  the  more  loftily  he  thinks,  the  nearer  to  God 
he  is.    Man  belongs  to  the  invisible  worlds. 

And  when  there  comes  into  a  man's  life  a  power  that  summons 
him  to  do  the  best  in  him,  that  stirs  motives  that  he  never  knew 
of  before,  that  raises  his  energies  until  there  has  come  a  new 
breath  into  his  humanity,  that  tells  of  God  moving  upon  man — 
this  same  power  is  going  to  give  man  life  and  to  give  him  life 
eternal.  It  is  God.  He  has  registered  himself  in  the  gift  of  his 
Son,  who  came  among  men  teaching  a  salvation  that  gives  men 
a  measureless  depth,  breadth,  and  height  in  the  love  of  God,  who 
thus  registers  his  own  infinite  nature  and  makes  it  manifest  in 
man. 

Now,  we  well  know  that  a  man  without  the  sense  of  responsi- 
bility is  not  fit  to  be  a  witness  or  a  juror  in  a  court  of  justice.  He 
would  be  dismissed  from  the  witness  stand  or  jury  box  if  he  de- 
clared himself  without  any  sense  of  obligation.  It  would  indicate 
at  once  that  he  had  not  attained  his  manhood,  that  he  was  arrested 
in  his  development.  A  man  who  has  no  sense  of  obligations  to 
his  fellow-man,  of  the  relations  to  God  out  of  which  obligations  are 
born,  is  unfit  for  citizenship.  The  higher  the  obligations,  the 
more  perfect  the  citizen  and  the  more  profoundly  devoted  to  the 
nation.  On  the  higher  relationship  and  the  conscious  obligations 
imposed  treaties  are  formed  and  contracts  are  made.  All  laws  of 
business  are  based  upon  this  sense  of  obligation. 

Why  do  you  shy  at  contracts  with  heathen  nations  ?  Because  no 
conscience  has  been  awakened,  and  no  such  thing  as  full  responsi- 
bility has  been  developed.  There  seems  to  be  something  incom- 
plete in  any  man,  in  any  nation,  that  ignores  its  contract,  that  is 
not  bound  by  this  sense  of  obligation.    But  in  a  man  conscious  of 


104  THE   OBLIGATION. 

this  obligation,  bound  by  his  word,  bound  by  his  obHgation  to  God, 
there  is  something  to  build  on.  Thus  contracts  are  made,  busi- 
ness relations  entered  into,  great  treaties  formed  that  have  bound 
the  nations  together.  My  brethren,  the  most  powerful  influence  at 
work  to-day  on  the  human  race  is  the  sense  of  obligation.  It  calls 
man  to  his  best,  to  his  highest,  to  his  noblest ;  and  who  has  ever 
thus  awakened  it  but  Christ  ?  And  it  is  Christ,  then,  who  has  de- 
veloped this  in  man,  who  has  sent  men  from  the  humbler  tasks  to 
the  larger  tasks,  from  mere  pursuit  of  wealth  to  the  pursuit  of 
souls,  making  them  desire  a  million  souls  rather  than  a  million 
dollars. 

So  the  most  wonderful  power  of  to-day  is  the  sense  of  obliga- 
tion ;  and  the  nation  whose  judiciary  ranks  highest,  whose  treaties 
are  held  most  sacred,  under  whose  flag  human  life  is  most  secure 
and  property  the  safest,  is  the  nation  that  meets  its  obligations 
squarely  as  they  come  up.  That  is  what  Christ  does  with  the  in- 
dividual. He  takes  the  man  from  the  lower  strata,  taking  him 
from  a  life  of  lust  and  degraded  conditions  to  a  noble  and  pure  and 
consecrated  manhood.  My  brethren,  with  this  knowledge  or  sense 
of  responsibility,  I  see  him  calling  you  and  me  to  greater  lives,  to 
larger  things,  to  more  commanding  efforts,  to  better  investment  of 
our  lives  for  God  and  man.  My  brethren,  I  am  heartily  tired  of 
thinking  of  the  gospel  in  terms  of  a  postage  stamp,  as  we  are  now 
doing.  Once  there  was  a  poor  man  just  recovering  from  fever. 
The  physicians  said  that  he  could  take  only  two  or  three  spoonfuls 
of  soup  each  meal,  and  said :  "You  must  do  everything  else  in  the 
same  proportion."  After  a  while  the  patient  said  to  his  nurse :  "I 
wish  you  would  bring  me  a  postage  stamp ;  I  want  to  read  a  little." 
[Laughter.]  He  thought  that  his  ability  to  read  should  be  meas- 
ured also  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  eat  and  his  ability  to  drink. 
My  brethren,  do  you  know  that  that  is  just  what  we  have  been  do- 
ing as  a  Church  ?  We  have  been  reading  a  postage  stamp.  That 
is  about  all  our  strength  has  permitted  us  to  read.  We  can  read 
only  what  is  on  a  postage  stamp,  "The  United  States  of  America, 
Two  Cents,"  when  we  plan  to  give  our  gospel  to  the  heathen 
world.  That  is  more  than  you  are  giving  now  for  each  one  of 
these  forty  millions  of  people  that  are  set  apart  as  your  legitimate 
field.  You  are  giving  at  the  rate  of  one  and  one-half  cents  a  year 
for  each — not  even  the  price  of  a  postage  stamp.    My  brethren,  it 


THE    SUPREME   OBLIGATION    OF   THE    HOUR.  I05 

becomes  our  great  Church  to  think  in  terms  of  millions,  not  in 
terms  of  a  postage  stamp.    [Applause.] 

We  gave  last  year,  for  all  purposes,  $10,895,000,  with  our  nearly 
1,750,000  members.  We  are  beginning  to  think  now  in  terms  of 
millions  of  dollars.  In  one  year  ( 1907)  we  increased  the  value  of 
our  Church  property  $5,000,000;  we  added  for  preaching  and 
teaching  for  the  home  Church  $5,000,000;  while  we  are  giving,  in- 
cluding" what  you  do  for  Church  extension,  less  than  $1,000,000 
for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among  the  needy  at  home  and  abroad. 
This  was  given  this  last  year.  Thus  we  spent  more  than  $10,000,- 
000  on  ourselves ;  and  when  you  come  down  to  what  you  have  giv- 
en to  the  great  outlying  fields,  you  are  thinking  in  terms  of  the 
postage  stamp,  my  brethren,  rather  than  in  terms  of  the  living- 
Christ  and  of  the  great  commission  of  our  Lord.  Away  with  these 
little  ideas  of  our  obligations  and  of  our  work !  They  are  unwor- 
thy of  the  Christ  that  bought  us,  and  of  the  love  that  redeemed  us. 
Christ  has  come  to  make  us  care,  my  brethren  ;  he  wants  to  master 
us  until  we  recognize  his  supremacy  in  our  lives ;  and  the  measure 
of  Christ's  supremacy  over  us  and  the  measure  of  our  consecration 
to  his  service  is  the  measure  of  our  greatness. 

Take  a  man  like  Peter.  What  would  Peter  have  amounted  to 
if  Christ  had  not  awakened  the  sense  of  obligation  ?  What  Church 
would  bear  his  name  to-day  had  it  not  been  for  Christ  awaken- 
ing this  obligation  in  him?  But  in  that  hour  when  Christ  took 
command  of  Peter's  ship,  he  took  command  of  Peter;  and  when 
Jesus  said,  "Cast  your  net  on  the  other  side,"  Peter  used  a  term 
that  is  not  used  anywhere  else  in  the  gospel  but  by  him.  He  said : 
"We  have  toiled  all  night,  and  taken  nothing ;  but.  Captain,  Cap- 
tain, if  thou  command,  I'll  let  down  my  net  on  the  other  side." 
Men  said:  "There's  a  new  Commander  on  Peter's  boat  to-day." 
And  there  was.  That  is  a  word,  "Epistata"  or  "Commander,"  that 
is  used  nowhere  except  by  Luke  and  where  Peter  used  it;  and 
later  he  repeats  it.  It  is  in  that  critical  hour  of  the  storm  when 
Peter  came  to  him  and  said :  "Captain,  Captain,  carest  thou  for  me 
to  perish  ?"  Christ  had  taken  possession  of  Peter's  boat  and  Pe- 
ter's nets  and  Peter's  life ;  and  there  was  growth  from  that  hour. 
Then  there  was  responsiveness ;  then  there  was  conviction ;  then 
there  was  greatness  of  motive. 

Brethren,  laymen,  may  I  say  this  word  to  you  to-day  ?  Let  the 
Lord  be  henceforth  the  Captain  of  your  life.    Take  him  on  board 


I06  THE   OBLIGATION. 

the  ship.  Let  him  enter  your  countingroom,  and  every  day  rec- 
ognize him  as  the  Lord  of  your  business ;  and  under  that  influence 
you  will  know  the  sense  of  obligation  in  its  blessed  inward  reach, 
as  blessed  also  in  its  outward  effects,  until  your  lives  will  grow 
great  under  his  hand.  For  Christ  immortalizes  every  man  who 
puts  himself  and  his  possessions  completely  in  his  control.  How 
he  immortalized  that  widow  that  day  when,  as  I  heard  an  ex- 
President  of  the  United  States  say,  "he  took  the  widow's  mite 
and  set  it  in  his  crown !"  The  crown  jewel  of  my  Lord  was  a 
widow's  gift,  because  it  was  her  all.  And  when  we  put  our  all  in 
Christ's  hands,  we  are,  like  Peter,  in  partnership  with  him.  He 
has  absolute  control  over  our  lives.  That  is  what  made  him  the 
leader  in  the  group  of  the  apostles,  the  heroic  figure  that  our  Lord 
honored  and  trusted  in  the  ministry  of  the  world. 

Now,  my  brethren,  I  make  this  appeal  to  you  to-night  as  the 
supreme  obligation  of  the  hour.  We  must  think  larger  thoughts. 
Save  us,  save  us,  O  our  Christ,  from  these  little  views !  Call  us 
to  thine  own  side  and  give  us  convictions ;  bring  the  best  that  is  in 
us  to  thy  service,  and  make  us  thine,  thine  indeed.  Let  us  be 
swayed  by  purer,  deeper,  higher  motives.    Use  us,  O  Lord ! 

Lord  Beaconsfield  used  to  say:  "Let  me  know  the  passions  of 
men,  and  I'll  tell  you  the  history  of  the  men.  Let  me  know 
the  passions  of  a  nation,  and  I'll  tell  you  the  history  of  the  nation." 
I  put  it  in  better  form  than  that :  Let  me  know  the  motives  of  men, 
not  their  passions,  and  I'll  tell  you  then  what  the  men  are  and 
what  they  will  become.  Let  me  know  the  commanding  motive  of 
a  nation,  then  you  can  cast  its  horoscope.  When  the  Son  of  God 
came  into  the  world,  he  came  absolutely  to  change  the  whole  na- 
ture of  man's  life  by  teaching  his  motives  until  the  foundations  of 
man  became  of  greater  depth  than  were  ever  found  in  man  before. 
No  human  soul  has  ever  been  swayed  with  such  devotion  as  Christ 
has  awakened  in  men  to  do  their  best  and  be  their  best.  Some  one 
asked  Jenny  Lind  what  was  the  secret  of  her  successful  life,  how 
it  was  that  she  reached  such  multiplied  thousands — sometimes 
twenty  thousand  at  a  time — with  that  wonderful  voice.  This  was 
her  response :  "I  always  sing  for  the  ear  of  God."  O,  do  you  won- 
der that  she  reached  the  ear  of  man?  My  brethren,  when  there 
are  motives  that  sway  us  until  the  consuming  passion  of  our  lives 
is  to  sing  for  the  ear  of  God,  to  preach  for  the  ear  of  God,  to  live 
for  the  service  of  God,  then  we  put  forth  the  best  that  is  in  us,  and 


THE   SUPREME   OBLIGATION    OF   THE    HOUR.  IQfJ 

live  wholly  for  God.  O,  my  brethren,  what  we  want  is  the  supreme 
effort ;  what  we  want  is  the  motive  that  lifts.  The  measure  of  any 
man  is  his  lifting  power.  The  ordinary  man  lives ;  the  great  man 
lifts.  How  much  are  you  lifting,  and  what  power  is  that  back  of 
you  making  you  lift?  The  supreme  obligation  of  the  hour  is  to 
think  greater  thoughts,  to  be  swayed  by  profounder  motives,  to 
consecrate  all  our  lives  to  nobler  deeds. 

My  brethren,  the  heroic  age  of  our  religion  is  just  about  to 
dawn.  We  had  a  little  test  of  it  in  the  first  century.  There  has 
been  no  intervening  century  so  closely  resembling  that  first  cen- 
tury as  this  twentieth  century,  when  the  Church  has  a  fresh  com- 
mission from  our  Lord  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  whole  world. 
There  is  something  to  live  for  again.  It  is  a  great  task  that  always 
raises  up  men ;  and  a  great  work  will  not  lack  volunteers.  When 
Stanley  made  his  last  adventurous  trip  into  the  heart  of  Africa,  he 
wanted  a  few  companions.  He  called  for  volunteers,  and  twelve 
hundred  men  volunteered  to  accompany  him.  There  was  some- 
thing about  the  difficulties  and  perils  of  that  march  through  the 
dark  forests  that  seemed  to  appeal  to  them,  and  twelve  hundred 
men  stood  ready  to  go.  When  that  great  voyage  of  discovery 
was  proposed  to  the  South  Pole  and  the  ship  needed  to  be  manned, 
permission  was  given  to  appeal  to  the  members  of  the  different 
ships  of  the  British  government  for  volunteers.  A  small  crew 
only  were  needed,  and  nearly  the  whole  channel  fleet  said :  "Send 
me !    Send  me !" 

It  is  this  that  is  going  to  stir  the  Church  to  its  very  core ;  for 
we  see  by  our  acceptance  40,000,000  of  people  in  the  foreign  field 
challenging  us,  with  8,000,000  people  belonging  to  us  in  the  home 
field,  nearly  2,000,000  more  of  which  are  so  related  to  us  that 
they  must  look  to  us  for  the  gospel ;  so  that  not  less  than  50,000,000 
of  people  are  recognized  as  our  immediate  field.  When  the  Qiurch 
begins  to  say,  "Yes,  we'll  give  the  $2  a  member  per  year  to  se- 
cure the  $3,000,000  for  this  purpose,"  then  we'll  begin  to  do  some- 
thing that  will  show  that  we  recognize  the  sense  of  obligation  and 
the  supreme  obligation  of  this  hour.  O  then  what  a  glorious 
Church  you  will  be,  "fairer  than  the  moon,  brighter  than  the  sun, 
terrible  as  an  army  with  banners !"  O  blessed  Redeemer,  may  this 
time  soon  be !  O,  my  brethren,  what  our  Lord  wants  now  is  con- 
secrated lives.  "Present  your  bodies  as  a  living  sacrifice."  When 
good  Bishop  Wilmer  lay  on  his  deathbed,  one  of  his  daughters 


I08  THE   OBLIGATION. 

asked  him  if  there  was  any  special  place  where  he  would  like  to  be 
buried.  He  said :  "My  child,  I  have  never  seen  the  place  where  I 
would  like  to  be  buried."  Thank  God,  I  haven't  either.  If  I  had 
my  way,  I  should  like  to  tarry  until  my  Lord  shall  come,  if  I  can 
only  have  a  part  in  this  great  conquest  for  the  kingdom  of  my 
Lord.    O  let  us  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  go ! 

Men,  men,  I  appeal  to  you,  don't  look  with  discouraged  hearts 
on  this  oncoming  war  nor  slink  from  the  field  of  conflict.  It  is 
all  right  to  look  on  it  from  the  glorious  heights  of  heaven;  but 
ask  to  have  a  part  in  it.  Get  your  convictions  from  the  heart  of 
Grod.  That  is  where  this  missionary  problem  is,  that  is  where  to 
find  it,  and  that  is  where  all  of  us  can  find  it.  And  then  in  the 
heart  of  God  you  will  find  the  great  motive  of  love  and  the  secret 
of  the  consecrated  life  for  the  winning  of  this  world.  This  is  the 
supreme  obligation.  It  is  the  same,  my  brethren,  that  it  has  been 
since  my  Lord,  with  those  last  words  on  his  lips,  put  that  blessed 
obligation  on  the  Church.  They  were  his  last  words.  O  let  us 
not  disappoint  him !  May  it  be  our  daily  thought  and  our  daily 
prayer  to  obey  that  supreme  command ! 

The  other  night  when  our  Ambassador-guest  from  across  the 
seas  was  here,  and  in  introducing  him  I  made  mention  of  the  fact 
that  God  g-ave  him  to  the  good  Queen  in  the  year  of  her  corona- 
tion, I  thought  of  what  transpired  on  the  day  of  her  coronation. 
She  was  only  a  slip  of  a  girl,  with  some  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  behind  her;  and  her  people  thought  the  ordeal  would  be 
most  trying  when  she  was  crowned  that  day.  The  great  "Hallelu- 
jah Chorus"  was  to  be  the  signal  for  all  to  arise.  But  they  said: 
"Your  Majesty  may  just  remain  seated  while  this  chorus  is  ren- 
dered." And  so,  in  obedience  to  this  injunction,  she  remained 
seated.  There  were  standing  the  dukes  and  lords  and  marquises 
and  counts — the  noblest  men  of  the  realm,  the  greatest  minds,  the 
purest  lives  were  all  represented  there.  But  as  the  great  gather- 
ing began  to  sing,  "Hallelujah  !  hallelujah !  hallelujah !"  they  saw 
the  timid,  shrinking  Victoria  arise  from  her  throne,  and  with 
streaming  eyes  she  too  sang,  "Hallelujah  !  hallelujah  !  hallelujah !" 
And  they  knew  that  God  had  given  them  a  queen  after  his  own 
heart  as  well  as  a  queen  in  name.  [Applause.]  So  that  beauti- 
ful life,  ripening  with  the  years,  finally  found  its  expression  in  a 
^  beautiful  characteristic  incident.  Her  chaplain  one  day  preached 
\    a  sermon  upon  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  when  he  should  come  to 


THE   SUPREME   OBLIGATION   OF   THE   HOUR.  IO9 

claim  his  own,  when  the  kings  of  this  world  should  become  the 
acknowledged  followers  of  our  Lord.  Those  near  the  royal  box 
saw  the  Queen's  lips  quivering  and  her  eyes  fill  with  tears.  When 
the  service  was  ended,  she  signified  to  her  chaplain  that  she  would 
like  to  see  him  alone.  He  came  into  her  royal  presence,  and  saw 
that  she  was  profoundly  moved;  and  finally  he  said,  "May  I  ask 
why  your  Majesty  is  so  moved  to-day?"  and  she  said,  "O  that  I 
might  be  alive  when  the  dear  Lord  shall  come !"  And  when  he 
asked,  "May  I  ask  why  your  Majesty  so  wishes  to  be  alive  when 
the  Lord  shall  come?"  she  replied  with  choking  voice,  "That  I 
might  lay  this  crown  at  his  feet."  May  we  too,  with  the  good 
Queen  Victoria,  help  to  crown  him  Lord  of  all!  [Members: 
"Amen !"] 

O  men,  lay  everything  at  his  blessed  feet,  and  crown  him  Lord 
of  all !  Give  your  sons  and  your  daughters  to  this  work ;  those 
of  you  that  can  give  your  own  lives  to  this  service;  and  let  us  ad- 
dress ourselves  to  this  great  work  until  he  comes  and  finds  us 
watching  in  that  day !     [Applause.] 


IX. 
THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CITY. 


Not  long  before  Mr.  Bryce  was  sent  to  Washington  a  company  of  Amer- 
icans called  upon  him  as  they  were  about  to  sail  for  their  home.  He  said  to 
them :  "Go  back  to  that  splendid  world  across  the  sea,  but  don't  you  make 
a  failure  of  it.  You  can't  go  on  twenty-five  years  longer  as  you  have  been 
going  on  in  your  great  cities  without  putting  us  liberals  in  Europe  back  for 
five  hundred  years."  That  means,  my  friends,  that  we  cannot  go  on  for 
twenty-five  years  more  as  we  have  been  going  on  without  putting  civiliza- 
tion back  for  five  hundred  years.  In  recent  times  various  States  have  not 
dared  to  intrust  their  larger  cities  with  autonomy.  Certain  powers  of  self- 
government  have  been  taken  away  from  them  and  lodged  in  the  Legisla- 
tures of  the  States,  lest  the  rich  be  despoiled  through  the  suffrage  of  the 
poor.  But,  my  friends,  the  day  is  surely  coming  when  the  city  will  no 
longer  go  down  on  its  knees  before  the  State  Legislature  and  beg  permis- 
sion to  do  this  or  that.  The  cities  will  take  into  their  hands  their  own 
affairs ;  and  not  only  so,  but  when  they  have  come  to  full  self-consciousness 
they  will  take  into  their  hands  the  affairs  of  the  State  and  of  the  nation 
also.  Rare,  indeed,  is  the  great  city  which  is  not  dominated  by  the  saloon; 
and  this  is  often  true  of  small  cities  as  well.  Madison,  Wis.,  is  the 
seat  of  a  great  university,  a  small  city  characterized  by  exceptional  intelli- 
gence, precisely  where  you  would  expect  to  find  ideal  citizenship,  and  yet  I 
heard  an  ex-Mayor  of  that  city  say:  "The  city  of  Madison  is  governed  by 
its  one  hundred  saloon  keepers.  It  is  they  who  decide  who  shall  be  nomi- 
nated and  who  shall  be  elected  in  both  the  Democratic  and  Republican 
parties." 


IX. 


THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CITY. 


DR.  JOSIAH  STRONG,  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
A  religious  meeting  was  once  opened  with 
prayer  by  a  colored  brother.  He  prayed 
appropriately  for  the  speaker,  that  he 
might  have  inspiration,  liberty,  power, 
and  just  as  he  was  about  bringing  his  pe- 
tition to  a  close  it  occurred  to  him  that 
there  was  to  be  a  second  speaker.  So  he 
proceeded  to  pray  for  the  second  speaker, 
and  in  so  doing  quite  exhausted  his  vo- 
cabulary. Just  as  he  was  again  bringing 
his  petition  to  a  close  it  suddenly  occurred  to  him  that  there  was 
to  be  a  third  speaker.  He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  said:  "O 
Lord,  have  mercy  on  the  third  speaker !" 

I  think,  when  it  comes  to  the  fourth  speaker,  Mr.  Chairman, 
the  petition  ought  to  be :  "O  Lord,  have  mercy  on  the  audience !" 
[Laughter.] 

We  are  now  to  consider  the  problem  of  the  city.  I  have  an 
acquaintance  who  said  he  would  rather  be  his  own  grandson 
than  his  own  grandfather,  which  is  a  very  concrete  way  of  say- 
ing that  the  world's  future  is  to  be  better  than  its  past,  and 
which  I  believe  with  all  my  heart.  But  I  would  rather  be  my- 
self than  my  remotest  descendant,  because,  my  brethren,  we  are 
living  in  what  I  believe  will  prove  to  be  the  supreme  transi- 
tional period  of  the  ages;  and  the  great  transitional  periods  of 
the  past  have  been  the  periods  of  supreme  opportunity — the 
mighty  hinges  of  history,  on  which  have  turned  the  destinies  of 
States,  of  nations,  of  civilization.  Broadly  speaking,  the  civili- 
zations of  the  past  have  been  rural  and  agricultural;  the  civili- 
zations of  the  future  are  to  be  urban  and  industrial. 

There  have  been  great  cities  in  the  past,  and  of  course  there 
are  to  be  great  agricultural  interests  in  the  future.    But  there  is 
8  (113) 


114  '^^^^   OBLIGATION. 

taking  place  a  shifting  of  influence  and  of  power  and  of  popu- 
lartiion,  the  consequence  of  which  we  have  only  begun  to  con- 
ceive. The  problem  of  the  city  is  the  problem  of  civilization. 
The  city  paganized  means  civilization  paganized.  The  city  Chris- 
tianized means  the  world  Christianized. 

We  are  loath  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  marvelous  and  dis- 
proportionate growth  of  the  city  during  the  past  forty  or  fifty 
years  is  to  continue.  You  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  the 
facts.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  three  per  cent 
of  our  population  lived  in  cities.  At  the  beginning  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  thirty-three  per  cent;  then  one  in  thirty-three  of 
our  small  population,  now  one  in  three  of  our  large  population. 
Then  there  were  only  six  cities  in  the  United  States  of  8,000  in- 
habitants or  more.  At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century 
there  were  517  such  cities.  Men  who  have  not  yet  learned  the 
causes  of  this  disproportionate  growth  of  the  city  have  generally 
concluded  that  it  was  due  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  our  new 
civilization.  But  there  has  been  a  similar  redistribution  of  popu- 
lation in  Europe,  and  even  in  Africa  and  Asia.  Wherever  the 
new  civilization  has  gone,  there  the  city  has  sprung  into  mar- 
velous life. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  problem  of  the  city  we  must  rec- 
ognize the  fact  that  its  disproportionate  growth  is  not  temporary. 
This  redistribution  of  population,  this  flowing  of  a  mighty  tide 
from  country  to  city,  is  to  continue.  It  is  due  to  several  causes, 
which  are  permanent.  One  is  the  application  of  machinery  to 
agriculture.  A  commission  of  the  government,  appointed  some 
years  ago  to  inquire  into  the  eflfects  of  such  application,  re- 
ported that  four  men  with  machinery  could  then  do  the  work 
formerly  done  by  fourteen.  What  becomes  of  the  othen  ten? 
They  are  forced  out  of  agriculture.  Another  cause  is  the  appli- 
cation of  machinery  to  manufactures  in  the  city,  which  attracts 
these  men  from  the  farms.  A  third  cause  is  the  building  of  the 
railway,  which  makes  the  transportation  of  population  from 
country  to  city  very  easy;  and  furthermore,  it  makes  possible  the 
transportation  of  food  so  as  to  feed  any  number  of  men  gath- 
ered at  one  point.  There  has  been  many  a  famine  in  the  cities 
in  the  past  when  grain  was  rotting  on  the  ground  only  a  few 
leagues  away. 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF  THE   CITY.  II5 

Cities  have  always  been  as  large  as  they  could  well  be,  for 
man  is  a  gregarious  animal.  It  has  been  difficult  to  provide  water 
and  food  and  fuel  for  dense  populations.  But  these  limitations 
are  now  removed,  and  it  has  become  possible  to  feed  10,000,000, 
20,000,000,  or  30,000,000  people  gathered  at  one  point;  hence 
this  inherent  tendency  in  human  nature  toward  segregation  is 
free  to-day  to  assert  itself.  But,  as  I  say,  men  are  very  loath  to 
recognize  this  fact.  They  have  discovered  that  this  redistribu- 
tion of  population  complicates  both  the  problems  of  the  country 
and  of  the  city,  and  hence  raise  the  cry :  "Back  to  the  soil !  Back 
to  the  soil !" 

Good  friends,  we  might  as  well  try  to  reverse  the  motion  of 
the  earth  on  its  axis  and  turn  it  back  into  the  age  of  homespun. 
We  might  as  well  try  to  hang  up  the  Tennessee  River  on  a 
clothesline  to  dry.  We  are  fighting  against  the  stars  in  their 
courses.  No  man  who  has  any  appreciation  of  economic  laws 
doubts  for  a  moment  that  this  disproportionate  growth  of  the 
city  is  destined  to  continue. 

For  the  last  sixty  years  and  more — ever  since  the  United 
States  government  took  census  reports  on  this  particular  point — 
the  percentage  of  men  engaged  in  agriculture  has  been  decreas- 
ing, and  the  percentage  of  men  engaged  in  the  mechanical  and 
fine  arts  has  been  increasing.  These  arts  are  pursued  in  the 
city;  hence  the  disproportionate  growth  of  the  city. 

There  was  a  time  when  as  many  families  could  win  a  living 
from  the  soil  as  could  find  land,  and  each  was  practically  inde- 
pendent of  all  the  world.  But  that  was  in  the  age  of  homespun, 
when  the  farmer  and  his  wiie  knew  in  a  rough  way  ten  or  a 
dozen  trades  between  them,  so  that  they  could  produce  the  nec- 
essaries of  life  for  themselves.  They  had  few,  if  any,  luxuries. 
That  day  has  forever  passed  in  this  country.  The  farmer  of  to- 
day can  produce  by  hand,  say,  one-tenth  as  many  things  as  his 
grandfather  could,  but  he  wants  about  ten  times  as  many.  He 
must,  therefore,  produce  food  for  the  market,  that  he  may  ex- 
change his  products,  or  the  money  received  for  them,  for  the 
products  of  our  factories.  That  is  to  say,  agriculture  has  be- 
come a  part  of  organized  industry,  and  is  therefore  as  dependent 
on  the  market  for  its  prosperity  as  is  pig  iron  or  any  other 
product. 


Il6  THE   OBLIGATION. 

Who  would  attempt  to  provide  for  all  the  idle  people  in  our 
cities  by  setting  them  to  making  pig  iron  ?  It  would  simply  glut 
the  market.  And  it  is  just  as  easy  to  glut  the  market  with  food 
products  as  with  iron  or  cotton. 

There  is  a  well-known  economic  law  called  Engel's  Law,  ac- 
cording to  which  it  has  been  absolutely  demonstrated  that,  as 
civilization  rises,  as  income  increases,  the  proportion  expended 
for  food  decreases.  Here  is  a  man  who  has  an  income  of  $i,ooo. 
He  presumably  has  all  the  food  he  needs.  His  income  gradually 
rises,  we  will  suppose,  to  $100,000  a  year.  He  doesn't  eat  one 
hundred  times  as  much  as  he  did  before;  he  doesn't  eat  any 
more.  He  doesn't  spend  one  hundred  times  as  much  on  his  table ; 
he  cannot.  He  may  spend  a  little  more,  perhaps  twice  as  much. 
But  he  can  easily  spend  one  hundred  times  as  much  on  houses 
and  grounds,  on  equipage  and  furniture,  on  art  and  books,  on 
statuary  and  gems.  His  wife,  if  her  bank  account  is  good 
enough  and  her  taste  is  bad  enough,  can  wear  $1,000,000  worth 
of  diamonds.  [Applause.]  There  is  no  limit  to  expenditure 
in  that  direction  except  purse  and  taste,  and  these  are  not  fixed 
limits.  They  are  artificial  limits,  and  they  are  rapidly  changing. 
There  is  a  natural  limit  to  the  amount  of  food  a  man  can  eat, 
and  therefore  a  natural  limit  to  the  amount  of  food  the  world 
can  consume.  When  the  world  has  been  adequately  fed,  the 
population  which  gains  its  livelihood  by  producing  the  world's 
food  can  increase  only  as  the  world's  population  increases. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  population  which  gains  its  livelihood 
by  the  mechanical  and  fine  arts  can  increase  as  rapidly  as  the 
world's  population  increases,  multiplied  by  the  world's  increase 
of  wealth,  which  is  increasing  at  an  enormous  rate.  Evidently, 
therefore,  those  who  gain  a  livelihood  by  the  mechanical  and  fine 
arts  will  necessarily  increase  more  rapidly  than  those  who  gain 
their  livelihood  by  producing  the  world's  food ;  and  as  such  people 
live  in  the  cities  for  the  most  part,  the  cities  must  necessarily 
continue  their  disproportionate  growth. 

The  wealth  of  the  city  already  dominates  the  land.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  last  century  more  than  one-half  of  the  wealth  of  the 
United  States  was  in  the  rural  districts.  Before  the  close  of 
that  century  more  than  three-fourths  of  that  wealth  was  in  the 
cities.    While  the  wealth  of  the  rural  districts  increased  fourfold, 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   THE   CITY.  Il^ 

that  of  the  cities  increased  sixteenfold.     And  the  influence  of . 
wealth  is  like  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere:  it  is  felt  in  every 
direction. 

Again,  the  press,  generally  speaking,  gives  direction  to  public 
opinion,  and  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  determines  our 
national  policies,  home  and  foreign,  and  the  press  is  to  be  found 
in  the  city. 

Already  the  city  dominates  the  land  by  the  influence  of  its 
wealth  and  by  the  influence  of  the  press,  and  in  due  time  the 
city  will  have  that  power  which  in  a  democracy  belongs  to  the 
majority.  At  the  present  rate  of  the  city's  growth,  in  one  gen- 
eration's time  there  will  be  20,000,000  more  people  in  the  cities 
than  there  will  be  outside  the  cities  in  the  United  States.  Do 
we  apprehend  what  that  signifies? 

The  distinguished  guest  of  this  Conference,  an  admirer  of  our 
institutions  and  our  most  friendly  critic,  the  distinguished  Am- 
bassador from  the  Court  of  St.  James  to  Washington,  said,  a 
few  years  ago:  "The  one  conspicuous  failure  of  American  insti- 
tutions is  the  government  of  her  great  cities."  And  we  know 
it  is  true. 

It  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  to  govern  a  small  city.  It 
is  increasingly  difficult  to  govern  that  city  as  it  grows  larger. 
And  our  larger  cities,  like  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago, 
have  become  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  civilized  world. 

Not  long  before  Mr.  Bryce  was  sent  to  Washington  a  com- 
pany of  Americans  called  upon  him  as  they  were  about  to  sail 
for  their  home.  He  said  to  them:  *'Go  back  to  that  splendid 
world  across  the  sea,  but  don't  you  make  a  failure  of  it.  You 
can't  go  on  twenty-five  years  longer  as  you  have  been  going  on 
in  your  great  cities  without  putting  us  liberals  in  Europe  back 
for  five  hundred  years."  That  means,  my  friends,  that  we  can- 
not go  on  for  twenty-five  years  more  as  we  have  been  going  on 
without  putting  civilization  back  for  five  hundred  years. 

In  recent  times  various  States  have  not  dared  to  intrust  their 
larger  cities  with  autonomy.  Certain  powers  of  self-government 
have  been  taken  away  from  them  and  lodged  in  the  Legislatures 
of  the  States,  lest  the  rich  be  despoiled  through  the  suflfrage  of 
the  poor.  But,  my  friends,  the  day  is  surely  coming  when  the 
city  will  no  longer  go  down  on  its  knees  before  the  State  Legis- 


Il8  THE  OBLIGATION. 

lature  and  beg  permission  to  do  this  or  that.  The  cities  will 
take  into  their  hands  their  own  affairs;  and  not  only  so,  but 
when  they  have  come  to  full  self -consciousness  they  will  take 
into  their  hands  the  affairs  of  the  State  and  of  the  nation  also. 

Rare,  indeed,  is  the  great  city  which  is  not  dominated  by  the 
saloon;  and  this  is  often  true  of  small  cities  as  well.  Madison, 
Wis.,  is  the  seat  of  a  great  university,  a  small  city  characterized 
by  exceptional  intelligence,  precisely  where  you  would  expect  to 
find  ideal  citizenship,  and  yet  I  heard  an  ex-Mayor  of  that  city 
say :  "The  city  of  Madison  is  governed  by  its  one  hundred  saloon 
keepers.  It  is  they  who  decide  who  shall  be  nominated  and 
who  shall  be  elected  in  both  the  Democratic  and  Republican 
parties." 

My  friends,  our  great  cities  are,  for  the  most  part,  dominated 
by  the  saloon  and  the  gambling  hell.  What  if  the  city  is  con- 
trolled by  its  worst  elements  when  the  city  dominates  the  nation? 
We  are  on  probation;  we  have  about  one  generation  in  which 
to  make  the  city  capable  of  self-government;  and  I  know  of  no 
way  to  make  the  city  self-governing  except  to  make  the  citizen 
self-governing.  I  thank  God  we  can  begin  with  the  child  to-day. 
Our  day  of  grace  has  not  yet  passed ;  but,  my  fellow-citizens,  we 
have  not  one  day  to  lose. 

That  we  may  better  appreciate  the  problem,  let  us  dwell  for 
a  moment  on  its  complexity.  The  population  of  the  typical  city 
is  thoroughly  heterogeneous.  A  czar  may  rule  successfully  over 
one  hundred  races,  perhaps;  but  a  democracy  must  be  more  or 
less  homogeneous  in  order  to  be  successful.  There  is  no  great 
city  in  the  United  States  that  has  not  fifty  or  more  nationalities 
living  in  it.  There  are  sixty-six  different  languages  spoken  in 
New  York  to-day — if  the  number  hasn't  increased  since  we  in- 
vestigated the  matter,  which  is  likely.  I  must  not  be  understood 
to  cast  reflections  on  our  foreign  population.  As  our  Irish 
friends  might  say:  "Many  of  our  best  American  citizens  were 
not  bom  in  their  native  land."  [Laughter.]  Most  of  us  were 
Americans  by  accident;  they  are  Americans  by  choice.  And 
when  they  become  educated  in  American  institutions,  their  pa- 
triotism puts  ours  to  shame. 

I  remember  reading  a  letter  of  a  young  man  who  came  to  this 
country  young  enough  to  get  the  advantage  of  our  public  school 


THE    CHALLENGE   OF   THE    CITY.  IIQ 

system.  He  then  took  a  course  in  Columbia  University,  where 
he  graduated.  After  graduation,  he  wrote :  "Now,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  I  am  a  free  American  citizen,  with  only  one  great 
desire  in  life,  and  that  is  to  do  something  for  my  fellow-men,  so 
that  when  I  die  I  may  leave  the  world  a  bit  the  better."  Now 
that  young  man  was  a  Russian  Jew.  [Applause.]  And  I  want 
to  say  to  you  that  that  Russian  is  a  better  American,  and  that 
Jew  a  better  Christian,  than  many  a  descendant  of  the  Pilgrim 
fathers  who  is  to-day  living  a  selfish  life. 

Foreign  immigration  furnishes  magnificent  raw  material  out 
of  which  to  create  American  citizens;  and  if  the  immigrants  do 
not  become  such,  it  will  be  our  fault  rather  than  theirs.  That  is 
part  of  our  problem  and  part  of  our  responsibility;  but  we  must 
recognize  that  this  vast  body  of  foreigners  coming  to  us  greatly 
complicates  the  problem  of  the  city.  The  proportion  of  illiter- 
ates among  these  foreigners  is  nearly  three  times  as  large  as 
among  the  native  whites.  The  proportion  of  paupers  among 
them  is  very  much  larger.  The  foreign  by  birth  or  parentage 
in  the  United  States  constitute  about  one-third  of  the  whole  pop- 
ulation, but  furnish  nearly  as  many  paupers  as  the  native  whites 
and  blacks  put  together. 

Crime  is  greatly  increased  by  immigration.  In  a  given  popu- 
lation there  are  two  and  one-half  times  as  many  criminals  among 
those  who  are  foreign  by  birth  or  parentage  as  among  the  native 
American  stock.  And  I  want  to  say  to  you,  my  friends,  that  in 
eighteen  of  our  largest  cities  the  population  which  is  foreign,  by 
birth  or  parentage,  is  two  and  one-half  times  as  large  as  the 
native  white  population,  which  means  that  if  we  do  not  Amer- 
icanize this  foreign  population  it  will  inevitably  foreignize  us, 
and  in  so  doing  foreignize  our  civilization. 

Not  only  is  the  population  of  our  great  cities  heterogeneous, 
but  the  great  problems  of  the  new  civilization  huddle  together 
in  the  city ;  there  is  the  supreme  problem  of  wealth  in  its  relation 
to  poverty ;  there  Dives  and  Lazarus  face  each  other ;  there  wealth 
is  piled  many  stories  high,  and  there  is  the  wretchedness  of  the 
slum. 

The  problems  of  vice  and  crime  are  aggravated  in  the  city. 
Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg  are  not  exceptionally  bad  cities,  and 


120  THE   OBLIGATION. 

yet  to  a  given  population  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  there  are 
seven  and  one-half  times  as  much  crime  in  Philadelphia  and 
nearly  nine  times  as  much  crime  in  Pittsburg  as  in  the  same  pop- 
ulation in  the  rural  districts. 

We,  then,  establish  certain  tendencies.  One  is  the  tendency 
of  the  city  to  grow  more  rapidly  than  the  whole  population. 
Another  is  the  tendency  of  the  city  to  come  more  and  more 
under  the  control  of  the  worst  elements  of  its  population  as  it 
grows  larger.  Another  is  the  tendency  of  pauperism  and  vice 
and  crime  to  increase  in  the  city,  and  this  is  more  especially  true 
of  the  slum. 

Perhaps  you  will  remember  that  a  few  months  ago  there  was 
a  town  blown  up  by  the  explosion  of  a  powder  factory.  Neither 
saltpeter  nor  sulphur  nor  charcoal,  taken  separately,  is  ex- 
plosive, but  united  they  make  gunpowder.  Neither  ignorance 
nor  crime  is  revolutionary  so  long  as  they  are  entirely  comfort- 
able; nor  is  poverty  revolutionary  so  long  as  it  is  controlled  by 
intelligence  and  conscience.  But  poverty,  ignorance,  and  crime 
combined  make  social  dynamite,  of  which  the  city  slum  is  the 
magazine,  awaiting  only  a  casual  spark  to  burst  into  terrific  de- 
struction. 

We  have  seen  what  are  the  principal  tendencies  in  the  city 
which  cause  alarm.  I  need  not  argue  to  this  audience  that  the 
great  conservative  institutions  of  society  on  which  we  must  rely 
to  meet  these  dangerous  tendencies  are  the  Church  and  the 
home.  Are  they  growing  proportionately  fast  in  the  city?  Are 
they  increasing  as  the  population  of  the  city  is  increasing? 

As  to  Churches,  we  find  from  one-fourth  to  one-tenth  as  many 
Protestant  Churches  in  our  cities  to  a  given  population  as  in  the 
whole  country.  And  the  proportion  is  decreasing.  There  are 
only  about  half  as  many  Churches  to  the  population  now  as  there 
were  fifty  years  ago  in  the  cities.  In  other  words,  here  is  a 
tendency  on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  grow  weaker  as  the  city 
and  its  dangerous  elements  grow  stronger. 

How  is  it  with  the  home?  The  census  shows  that  on  the 
farms,  out  in  the  country,  about  two-thirds  of  all  the  farmers 
own  their  homes.  As  we  come  to  the  cities  of  loo.ooo  inhab- 
itants, that  proportion  rapidly  decreases.  When  you  reach  cities 
the  size  of  Boston,  i8  per  cent  own  their  homes.    As  the  cities 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   THE   CITY.  121 

become  larger,  real  estate  becomes  more  valuable  and  fewer  men 
can  own  homes.  When  you  come  to  Manhattan,  less  than  6  per 
cent  own  their  own  homes. 

Property  makes  a  man  conservative;  but  if  a  man  has  noth- 
ing to  lose  by  an  uprising  or  revoluton,  he  is  much  more  apt  to 
be  revolutionary.  The  larger  the  city,  the  more  likely  it  is  to 
be  dominated  by  the  worst  elements  of  society,  the  smaller  is 
the  strength  of  the  Church  and  the  proportion  of  homes,  and 
hence  the  city  becomes  the  hotbed  of  anarchism  and  of  socialism. 
My  friends,  the  supreme  problems  of  civilization  are  in  the 
city;  and  it  is  in  the  city  that  they  must  be  solved.  I  have  not 
time  to  take  up  to-day  what  I  believe  to  be  the  method  of  solu- 
tion. I  believe  that  problem  has  been  solved ;  I  believe  that  noth- 
ing remains  to-day  but  to  convince  Christian  men  and  women  of 
the  effectiveness  of  the  methods  which  have  been  tested  now  for 
twenty  years  and  to  induce  them  to  apply  this  solution  to  the 
problem  of  the  city. 

I  desire  to  use  the  remainder  of  my  time  to  show  you  that  the 
problem  of  the  city  is  not  simply  a  profound  national  problem, 
but  is  the  supreme  world  problem. 

We  have  heard  much,  but  not  too  much,  of  the  awakening  of 
China.  Hundreds  of  miles  of  railway  have  been  built,  and  thou- 
sands of  miles  are  projected;  steamboats  ply  on  the  rivers; 
thousands  of  miles  of  telegraph  wires  have  been  strung;  fac- 
tories have  gone  up,  which  are  being  kept  busy  day  and  night. 
The  industrial  revolution  is  well  under  way  in  China. 

The  new  civilization  of  the  Western  world  was  created  by 
the  industrial  revolution;  and  wherever  human  muscles  toil, 
there  the  industrial  revolution  is  bound  to  go,  because  machinery 
is  bound  to  go.  It  is  destined  to  invade  every  country  in  the 
world.  And  we  can  anticipate  what  the  effects  of  that  revolution 
will  be  in  Japan  and  China  and  India,  because  we  know  what  its 
effects  have  been  in  every  country  in  Europe  and  in  every  State 
in  the  Union. 

Let  us  glance  briefly  at  a  few  of  the  results  of  the  industrial 
revolution.  One  is  this  disproportionate  growth  of  the  city, 
which  is  caused  by  the  redistribution  of  population,  the  emptying 
of  villages  into  cities.  That  movement  was  most  marked  in  this 
country  from  1880  to  1890,  and  during  that  period  more  than 


122  THE   OBLIGATION. 

10,000  townships  in  the  United  States  lost  population,  notwith- 
standing the  general  growth.  In  the  State  of  Illinois  792  town- 
ships lost  population,  while  Chicago  sprang  from  500,000  to 
more  than  1,000,000.  That  was  not  exceptional.  In  every  State 
of  the  Union  and  in  every  Territory  of  the  United  States  that 
same  movement  from  country  to  city  took  place.  In  every  State 
and  Territory  there  was  an  increase  of  population,  save  only 
Nevada;  but,  notwithstanding  that  increase  of  population,  there 
were  more  than  10,000  villages  that  lost  population — villages  be- 
ing emptied  into  the  cities.  Six  hundred  and  forty-one  town- 
ships in  New  York  lost  population,  and  nearly  a  thousand  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  same  process  is  going  on  here  in  the  South, 
You  will  find,  if  you  will  look  up  the  facts,  that  hundreds  of 
townships  have  lost  population,  while  the  cities  have  grown  40, 
50,  80,  500,  or  1,000  per  cent  in  ten  or  twenty  years. 

There  is  one  other  result  of  the  industrial  revolution  to  which 
I  wish  to  call  your  attention,  and  that  is  the  geographical  scat- 
tering of  the  family.  Boys  and  girls  in  the  agricultural  age,  the 
age  of  homespun,  stayed  at  home ;  the  home  was  the  factory. 
The  industries  have  now  been  carried  from  the  home  to  the  city, 
and  the  boys  and  girls  have  followed.  When  farmers'  sons  are 
agriculturists,  they  are  anchored  to  the  soil ;  when  they  become 
mechanics,  they  are  scattered  over  all  the  land  by  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  labor  market. 

Now,  mark  you,  my  friends,  in  Asia  there  live  one-half  of  the 
human  family,  and  in  China  and  India  alone  700,000,000,  It  is 
significant  that  most  of  these  millions  live  in  villages.  The  Blue 
Book  of  India  tells  us  that  there  are  upward  of  500,000  villages 
in  India,  And  Arthur  Smith,  one  of  the  best  authorities  on 
China,  tells  us  that  there  are  not  less  than  500,000  villages  in 
China. 

Every  civilization  has  passed  through  the  village  stage.  Asiat- 
ic civilization  was  arrested  at  that  stage.  There  are  very  few 
great  cities  in  China,  notwithstanding  the  great  population — 
not  so  many  millionaire  cities  as  there  are  here  in  the  United 
States.  Another  characteristic  of  Asiatic  peoples  is  the  patri- 
archal family,  on  which  are  based  the  religions  of  Japan,  China, 
and  India, 

The  industrial  revolution  has  been  in  progress  for  some  years 


THE    CHALLENGE   OF   THE   CITY.  I23 

in  Japan,  and  the  results  which  have  attended  it  in  Europe  and 
America  have  already  appeared  there,  and  precisely  the  same  re- 
sults are  beginning  to  appear  in  China.  What  does  this  mean? 
It  means  that  many  thousands  of  villages  in  Asia  are  to  be 
emptied  into  the  cities  yet  to  be  built  in  China  and  India ;  and  it 
means  the  geographical  scattering,  and  therefore  the  destruction, 
of  the  patriarchal  family. 

The  social  systems  of  Asia  are  based  on  the  village  as  the  re- 
ligious systems  of  Asia  are  based  on  the  patriarchal  family. 
The  industrial  revolution  is  destined  to  turn  and  overturn  and 
overturn  until  these  foundations  of  Asiatic  institutions  are  ground 
to  powder.  That  is  the  meaning  of  the  industrial  revolution; 
that  is  the  meaning  of  "something  doing"  throughout  Asia  and 
throughout  the  world,  of  which  we  heard  last  evening. 

The  supreme  marvel  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  awak- 
ening of  Japan.  The  supreme  wonder  of  the  twentieth  century, 
I  believe,  will  be  the  awakening  of  China  and  India. 

Think  of  China — ^gray  with  years  when  Rome  was  founded, 
more  ancient  than  ancient  Abraham — traveling  by  the  lightning 
express,  riding  on  electric  cars,  sending  telegrams,  talking  over 
the  telephone,  reading  Confucius  by  the  incandescent  electric 
lamp !  What  incongruities !  What  juxtaposition  of  East  and 
West !  What  confusion  of  the  centuries !  Can  we  ever  again  be 
surprised?  Yes,  there  is  one  more  wonder.  That  remarkable 
woman,  the  Dowager  Empress,  was  the  representative  of  con- 
servative China,  and,  as  such,  imprisoned  the  young  emperor, 
who  is  the  representative  of  young  and  progressive  China;  and 
let  me  say  that  in  so  doing  she  illustrated  David  Harum's  inter- 
pretation of  the  golden  rule:  she  did  what  the  young  emperor 
was  intending  to  do  to  her,  and  she  did  it  "fust."  This  same 
representative  of  conservatism  hitherto  sent  a  commission  to  our 
country  and  to  Europe  to  study  constitutional  government,  with 
the  promise  that  she  would  give  constitutional  government  to 
the  400,000,000  of  China. 

Good  friends,  China  is  already  awake!  Japan  is  already 
awake !  India,  with  her  300,000,000,  is  already  awake !  In 
God's  name,  isn't  it  time  for  America  to  be  awake?  [Ap- 
plause.] 

There  are  to  be  thousands  of  cities  built  in  Asia  during  the 


124  "^^^   OBLIGATION. 

twentieth  century;  and  it  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
world  that  it  has  been  possible  to  develop  a  new  civilization  in 
the  light  of  science.  The  city  is  to  dominate  not  only  this  na- 
tion, but  China,  India,  all  Asia,  and  all  the  world. 

The  government  of  the  city  is  to  be  the  political  problem  of 
all  lands;  the  evangelization  of  the  city  is  to  be  the  religious 
problem  of  all  lands;  so  that  the  city  is  the  problem  of  home 
missions  and  foreign  missions  alike.  The  tremendous  social 
problems  of  the  city  are  attracting  the  attention  of  the  wisest 
in  America  and  Europe;  and  Asia  is  soon  coming  face  to  face 
with  them. 

As  the  result  of  twenty  years'  study,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  be- 
lieve, to  the  very  center  of  my  being,  that  these  problems  can  be 
solved,  and  solved  only  by  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
Christ's  teaching.     [Applause.] 

Look  ye,  then,  ye  men  of  this  Missionary  Movement,  see  what 
the  Missionary  Movement  means !  It  has  not  only  its  spiritual 
aspects,  but  also  its  social  aspects,  its  industrial  aspects,  its  phys- 
ical aspects  of  every  sort;  an-d  let  us  remember  that  moral  and 
spiritual  progress  depend  not  only  on  spiritual  causes,  but  also  on 
physical  conditions. 

The  problem  of  missions  is  as  broad  as  the  problem  of  civili- 
zation ;  the  problem  of  missions  is  as  broad  as  the  world ;  and  its 
very  essence  is  the  problem  of  the  city. 

I  can  take  only  a  very  few  minutes  more,  and  let  me  devote 
that  time  to  this  point:  God  has  laid  a  responsibility  upon  this 
generation  such  as  he  never  laid  upon  any  other,  because  he  has 
given  to  us  such  an  opportunity  as  he  never  gave  to  any  other. 
He  has  placed  in  the  hands  of  this  generation  such  resources  to 
meet  that  problem  as  were  never  placed  in  the  hands  of  any 
other,  for  our  God  is  a  reasonable  God. 

One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  this  new  civiliza- 
tion is  the  enormous  increase  of  wealth.  One  speaker  last  even- 
ing referred  to  the  fact  that  our  wealth  is  more  than  $100,000,- 
000,000.  In  1850  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  was  $7,000,- 
000,000;  in  1904  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  was  $107,000,- 
000,000.  That  has  been  the  increase  within  the  memory,  within 
the  business  career,  of  some  of  you  men.  It  is  as  if  the  people 
of  the  United  States  had  been  given  the  touch  of  Midas,  which 


THE    CHALLENGE   OF   THE   CITY.  12$ 

transmutes  everything  into  gold.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the 
history  of  other  nations,  because  other  nations  are  not  using 
machinery  as  we  are,  and  no  other  nation  has  carried  the  division 
of  labor  as  far  as  we. 

Not  only  is  wealth  increasing  at  an  enormous  rate,  but  the  rate 
of  increase  is  increasing.  The  average  increase  of  our  savings 
over  and  above  all  expenditure  and  all  waste  durng  the  ten  years 
from  1890  to  1900  was  $6,400,000  for  every  day  in  the  year. 
The  average  increase  of  wealth  over  and  above  all  expenditure 
during  the  first  four  years  of  this  century,  the  latest  for  which 
the  treasury  has  issued  any  statistics,  was  $13,000,000  a  day — 
more  than  twice  as  great  as  it  was  during  the  last  decade  of  the 
last  century. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  rate  of  increase  from  1900  to  1904 
does  not  continue,  but  that  it  falls  back  one-half,  as  a  result  of 
the  existing  conditions.  What  will  the  wealth  of  the  United 
States  be  in  that  fateful  year  of  1940,  when  the  city  will  domi- 
nate the  nation?  According  to  the  supposition,  our  wealth  in 
1940  will  be  equal  to  all  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  in  1900, 
plus  all  the  wealth  of  France  in  1900,  plus  all  the  wealth  of  the 
empire  of  Germany,  plus  all  the  wealth  of  Russia,  plus  all  the 
wealth  of  Great  Britain,  plus  all  the  wealth  of  New  Zealand, 
plus  all  the  wealth  of  Australia,  plus  all  the  wealth  of  India, 
plus  all  the  wealth  of  all  the  colonies  of  Great  Britain  throughout 
the  world.  My  friends,  such  wealth  is  not  only  stupendous,  it 
is  absolutely  appalling!  Such  wealth  will  put  a  strain  on  the 
moral  character  of  this  nation  such  as  no  nation  on  earth  has 
ever  endured.  Spain  was  at  the  acme  of  her  power  when  the 
gold  and  silver  of  the  New  World  were  poured  into  her  lap. 
She  could  not  endure  the  strain,  and  she  fell  to  the  lowest  place 
among  the  nations.  Brother  men,  nothing  will  save  this  nation 
from  the  curse  of  wealth  but  the  consecration  of  wealth.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Luxury  has  always  been  degrading,  and  wealth  has  always 
been  dangerous.  Every  nation,  every  age  has  needed  the  stim- 
ulus of  poverty  to  develop  its  resources.  We  must  struggle  if 
we  would  be  strong.  What  are  our  young  men  to  do  without 
this  stimulus,  unless  indeed  they  learn  to  consecrate  their 
wealth  and,  practicing  daily  self-denial,  regard  themselves  be- 


126  THE   OBLIGATION. 

fore  God  as  his  stewards?  We  need  for  Asia's  sake  to  conse- 
crate our  wealth;  we  need  for  our  own  sake  to  consecrate  our 
wealth. 

Years  ago  our  fathers  looked  out  on  this  broad  continent  and 
gained  inspiration  for  consecration  from  the  fact  that  they  were 
engaged  in  the  statesmanlike  work  of  creating  a  nation.  Men 
of  to-day,  we  gain  inspiration  for  this  needed  consecration  from 
the  fact  that  we  are  engaged  in  the  Godlike  work  of  shaping  a 
world!  [Applause.]  No  such  opportunity  ever  came  to  any 
other  generation,  and  therefore  no  such  responsibility  was  ever 
laid  upon  any  other  generation. 

And,  let  me  say,  my  friends,  the  supreme  opportunity — and 
therefore  the  supreme  responsibility — is  laid  upon  America.  I 
haven't  time  to  show  you — ^but  I  could  show  you — that,  in  God's 
providence,  America  is  a  great  political,  social,  religious,  and 
economic  laboratory,  where  are  being  worked  out  the  supreme 
problems  of  the  new  civilization  for  all  the  world. 

It  is  true  the  industrial  revolution  is  older  in  England  than  in 
the  United  States;  but  we  have  carried  the  division  of  labor  far- 
ther than  England,  and  therefore  we  have  gained  more  expe- 
rience. And  England,  France,  and  Germany  are  sending  their 
commissions  to  the  United  States  to  learn  from  us. 

We  call  this  continent  the  "New  World;"  we  call  Asia  the 
"Old  World."  But,  good  friends,  America  has  become  the  old 
world  in  experience  with  these  new  problems ;  and  Asia  is  to-day 
the  new  world,  just  entering  upon  this  new  era.  And  it  is  for 
us,  as  for  no  other  nation,  to  give  her  the  illumination  of  the 
gospel  applied  to  the  solution  of  these  problems  in  our  own  na- 
tional life.  How  can  our  citizens  go  to  China  and  tell  them  that 
Christianity  will  solve  their  problems,  unless  we  apply  those  prin- 
ciples to  our  own  problems?     [Applause.] 

There  can  be  no  national  secrets  to-day.  Japan  and  China 
know  of  the  degradation  of  our  cities;  they  know  of  our  com- 
mercialism; they  know  of  our  greed  and  graft.  If  we  do  not 
conquer  ourselves  with  the  gospel,  we  can  never  carry  a  con- 
quering gospel  into  all  the  world. 

Brethren,  if  I  have  given  to  you  the  impression  that  there  is 
any  occasion  for  panic  or  discouragement,  I  have  belied  myself. 
I  believe  the  world  is  growing  better  every  day.      [Applause.] 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  Creator  of  this  world  will  ever  cease 


THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CITY.  12/ 

to  be  its  Governor.  I  do  not  believe  that  He  who  gave  his  Son 
for  the  redemption  of  the  world  will  ever  forget  to  love  it. 
[Applause.]  I  have  confidence  in  God.  I  have  confidence  in 
God's  word;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we  have  an  expressed 
promise  in  this  Word  touching  the  redemption  of  the  city.  [Ap- 
plause.] At  the  beginning  of  this  divine-human  Book  our  first 
glimpse  of  man  is  in  a  garden ;  it  is  a  paradise  of  perfect  beauty, 
of  perfect  simplicity,  of  perfect  innocence.  It  is  a  paradise  of 
virtue  unfallen,  because  of  virtue  untried.  We  turn  to  the  close 
of  this  Book  and  we  catch  another  glimpse  of  man  in  a  perfected 
estate.  We  see  in  that  vision  not  the  beauty  of  innocence,  but  the 
beauty  of  holiness.  We  see  not  the  uncertain,  the  unstable  peace 
of  virtue  untried,  but  the  established  peace  of  virtue  victorious. 

In  that  first  picture  we  see  individualistic  man ;  in  that  second 
picture  we  see  social  man.  In  the  first  we  see  unfallen  man, 
sustaining  right  relations  to  his  Creator;  in  the  second  we  see 
redeemed  man  sustaining  right  relations  to  his  God  and  to  his 
fellows.     [Applause.] 

The  story  of  this  marvelous  human  drama  begins  in  the  coun- 
try; it  is  consummated  in  the  city.  The  crown  and  consumma- 
tion of  our  civilization,  the  full  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth,  is  typified  not  by  a  garden  but  by  a  city — a  Holy  City,  into 
which  shall  enter  nothing  unclean,  nothing  that  maketh  a  lie. 

Paradise  lost  was  a  garden;  Paradise  regained,  my  brethren, 
will  be  a  city.  And  it  is  your  privilege  and  mine  to  be  co- 
laborers  with  God  unto  the  coming  of  his  kingdom  in  the  city 
and  in  the  whole  earth.     [Great  applause.] 


X. 

THE  CALL  TO  GO  FORWARD. 


Your  civilization  is  stagnating  and  putrefying  with  material  prosperity. 
The  moral  miasmas  which  arise  from  your  accumulated  and  unused  wealth 
threaten  the  well-being  of  all  classes.  The  pestilence  of  greed  pervades 
all  places,  sometimes  penetrating  to  the  pulpit  even.  It  corrupts  your  poli- 
tics and  defiles  your  social  life;  it  divides  families  with  feuds  and  sets 
communities  at  variance  with  each  other;  it  moves  capital  to  oppress  labor 
and  labor  to  defraud  capital.  What  at  last  is  your  question  of  capital  and 
labor  but  a  contest  of  greed?  Were  the  wages  of  labor  or  the  returns  of 
capital  ever  so  great  among  any  people?  What  then  are  they  quarreling 
about?  What  is  the  meaning  of  their  strife  over  money  except  it  be  that 
each  is  mad  because  both  cannot  get  all  of  it?  I  confess  that  I  cannot 
get  interested  on  behalf  of  either  contestant.  It  is  a  quarrelsome  greed 
that  animates  both  parties.  If  it  were  a  contest  of  eagles,  vying  with  each 
other  as  to  which  could  fly  nearest  the  sun  and  hide  himself  deepest  in  the 
rays  of  that  radiant  orb,  I  could  watch  the  contest  with  eager  interest. 
But  over  a  contest  of  vultures,  as  to  which  shall  get  the  largest  share  of 
the  carrion  which  they  have  jointly  discovered,  my  enthusiasm  refuses  to 
rise.  We  have  struggled  for  wealth,  and  when  we  have  won  it,  we  have 
held  on  to  it  with  such  adoring  tenacity  that  covetousness  has  tainted  all 
our  ideals.  We  make  money  not  only  the  measure  of  material  values,  but 
the  standard  of  human  life  itself.  We  are  beginning'  to  feel  that  to  be 
without  money  is  to  be  without  character,  and  that  we  can  do  without 
character  if  we  can  only  have  money.  Our  competitions  are  ignoble  rival- 
ries, and  our  social  system  is  rapidly  becoming  a  race  course  for  the  dis- 
play of  vulgarities.  We  are  the  bondslaves  of  the  bond  market  and  most 
truly  the  "serfs  of  the  soil." 

(130) 


X. 


THE  CALL  TO  GO  FORWARD. 


BISHOP  W.  A.   CANDLER,  ATLANTA,  GA. 


You  may  conceive  of  three  things  we 
could  do  with  reference  to  this  matter  of 
foreign  mission  work:  We  could  go  back- 
ward, we  could  stand  still,  or  we  could 
advance.  Practically,  however,  there  are 
but  two,  for  standing  still  and  going  back- 
ward are  about  the  same  thing. 

We  must  advance,  and  for  reasons  that 
will  occur  to  you  without  much  suggestion 
from  me.  Consider  what  would  be  the 
effect  upon  ourselves  at  this  period  of  the 
world's  history,  confronted  by  all  the  spir- 
itual wants  and  national  needs  that  have  been  set  before  us  this 
evening,  if  we  either  stood  still  or  went  backward. 

What  would  be  the  effect  upon  ourselves  ?  We  will  begin  with 
the  very  least  effect:  It  would  not  be  good  even  for  our  earthly 
interests,  not  to  speak  of  our  higher  concerns ;  it  would  not  profit 
us  financially ;  for  as  the  nations  are  Christianized  and  begin  deal- 
ing with  the  other  nations  in  the  earth  they  become  more  and  more 
prosperous  themselves,  and  therefore  more  and  more  profitable  to 
their  associate  nations.  We  might  say  of  them  to-day  that  as 
long  as  they  are  unchristianized  they  are  unprofitable  members 
of  the  family  of  nations.  It  may  interest  certain  members  of  this 
convention  to  be  informed  that  if  by  education,  evangelization, 
civilization,  or  what  not  you  could  get  all  the  Chinese  gentlemen 
to  put  on  one  more  shirt  a  year  it  would  raise  the  price  of  cotton 
not  less  than  a  cent  a  pound.  [Laughter.]  But  that  is  a  very 
low  consideration.  Missions  pay,  but  they  cannot  be  sustained  by 
mercenary  motives. 

A  higher  consideration  is  what  effect  the  abandonment  of  the 
work  of  foreign  missions  or  retrogression  in  the  work  would  have 
upon  our  own  confidence  in  our  own  Christianity.    Any  religion 

(131) 


132  THE   OBLIGATION. 

that  is  willing  to  divide  the  world  with  any  other  faith  is,  by  the 
very  fact  of  its  willingness  to  make  such  a  division  of  the  earth, 
proved  to  be  insincere  as  to  its  own  conviction  of  its  truthfulness. 

When  the  king  of  Israel  had  brought  before  him  two  women 
contending  for  the  same  child,  each  pretending  to  be  its  mother, 
he  settled  the  issue  shrewdly  when  he  proposed  to  divide  the  child 
between  them — to  cut  it  in  two.  The  spurious  mother  agreed, 
being  willing  to  destroy  the  child  in  order  to  win  a  point ;  but  the 
genuine  mother  resisted  the  proposition  most  strenuously,  for  the 
child  was  more  to  her  than  victory  over  an  opponent.  In  like 
manner,  if  the  Christians  of  the  world  are  willing  to  divide  the 
race,  giving  some  nations  to  paganism  and  some  to  Christianity, 
they  thereby  proclaim  both  the  spuriousness  of  their  faith  and 
their  lack  of  love  for  men.  But  Christ  will  have  no  partition  of 
the  planet.  He  claims  all  souls.  Wherefore  our  religion  is  neces- 
sarily, in  a  sense,  nobly  intolerant.  It  is  intolerant  of  all  pagan 
faiths  as  truth  is  intolerant  of  falsehood  or  as  love  is  intolerant 
of  lust.  Knowing  that  it  has  come  from  God,  it  refuses  all  com- 
promise, and  insists  that  there  is  not  room  enough  in  the  world 
for  both  it  and  any  other  competing  faith.  [Applause.]  There 
is  not  standing  room  on  the  planet  for  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  any  opposing  force  whatsoever.     [Applause.] 

There  are  some  in  our  day  who  affect  great  generosity  toward 
pagan  religions.  They  call  their  flabby  folly  "mental  hospitality," 
I  believe,  and  talk  of  God's  having  come  to  certain  nations  through 
Buddhism,  to  others  through  Mohammedanism,  and  to  others 
through  Brahmanism.  This  is  the  veriest  nonsense.  God  has  not 
left  himself  without  witness  in  any  nation;  by  the  voice  of  both 
Providence  and  the  Spirit  he  has  called  all  men  everywhere  to 
repentance.  But  all  these  pagan  faiths  and  idolatrous  supersti- 
tions have  made  men  deaf  to  the  voice  of  God  and  heedless  to  the 
divine  commands.  God  has  no  more  approached  ^nen  through 
them  than  the  broken-hearted,  grief-stricken  father  of  the  parable 
approached  his  prodigal  son  through  the  hardened  citizen  of  the  far 
country  to  whom  his  wayward  child  had  joined  himself.  These  en- 
slaving superstitions  send  God's  children  to  the  hardships  of  the 
most  degrading  courses  of  life,  and  neither  God  nor  any  good 
man  can  look  upon  them  with  any  degree  of  toleration.  It  is  not 
possible  to  arrange  between  them  and  Christianity  any  sort  of 
modus  vivendi.    It  is  war  to  the  death  between  Christianity  and 


THE   CALL  TO   GO   FORWARD.  1 33 

every  high  thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  God  and  his 
Christ. 

I  remember  that  about  the  years  1886- 1888  this  sort  of  pseudo- 
HberaHty  was  quite  prevalent  in  some  quarters  of  our  country. 
Certain  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  were  giving  that 
Board  considerable  trouble  by  sundry  speculations  through 
which  they  assumed  to  be  the  special  champions  of  God's  love 
toward  heathen  men  and  his  liberality  toward  heathen  faiths. 
Some  of  those  men  were  in  Japan,  where  they  were  a  specially 
noisy  nuisance  to  all  sincere  servants  of  Christ.  But  where  are 
they  now?  What  has  become  of  them?  They  are  no  longer  in 
Japan.  They  have  failed  as  missionaries  and  returned  home  or 
gone  to  ruin.  When  I  was  in  Japan,  two  years  ago,  I  heard  noth- 
ing of  them.  But  I  found  a  venerable  man  still  there  with  whom 
those  vanished  apostles  of  liberalism  were  not  very  sympathetic 
in  their  day;  Dr.  Davis  was  there,  and  he  is  there  to-night.  I 
saw  him  when  I  was  in  Japan.  He  was  worn  with  years  and 
wasted  with  toil,  but  full  of  hope  and  zeal,  as  loving  to  the  Japa- 
nese as  he  is  loyal  to  Christ.  I  can  never  forget  his  great  sermon 
to  a  large  congregation  composed  of  missionaries  of  all  the  evan- 
gelical Churches,  in  the  course  of  which  he  cried  out  with  thrill- 
ing eloquence :  "Doubt  your  doubts  and  believe  your  beliefs,  and 
give  Christ  to  Japan."  Dear,  brave,  orthodox  Dr.  Davis  is  there 
yet ;  but  the  apostles  of  compromise  have  left  the  field.  Perhaps 
they  are  still  philosophizing  in  and  around  Boston. 

Men  who  run  after  sterile  speculations,  men  who  make  fine- 
spun and  foolish  distinctions  between  the  divinity  and  the  deity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  appear  anxious  to  show  themselves 
more  broad-minded  than  divine  wisdom  and  more  tender  than 
God's  love,  and  who  think  that  Christ  may  be  useful,  although 
not  indispensable,  to  the  heathen  world,  will  not  remain  on  the 
foreign  field  even  if  they  go  there.  They  may  go  out  impelled 
by  curiosity  to  see  strange  things  or  by  a  spirit  of  youthful  adven- 
ture; but  they  will  never  endure  for  long  the  hardships  of  mis- 
sionary life.  They  hurry  home  whenever  the  pinch  of  battle  comes 
on.  [Laughter.]  For  one,  I  do  not  blame  them.  He  is  a  foolish 
man  indeed  who  will  separate  himself  from  kindred  and  friends 
and  native  land  to  carry  a  colorless,  bleached  gospel  to  a  pagan 
people.  Since  such  a  man  believes  that  the  heathen  world  can 
get  along  without  Christ,  he  demonstrates  that  it  can  get  on  very 


134  THE   OBLIGATION. 

well  without  himself.  In  fact,  the  liberalist  is  not  needed  in  any 
land.  He  is  not  needed  at  home  or  abroad,  on  either  side  of  the 
world,  in  the  Far  East  or  in  the  Near  West. 

Suppose  we  desired  to  redeem  a  dark  and  degraded  ward  of 
one  of  our  great  cities  and  engaged  one  of  these  apostles  of  liber- 
alism, with  his  hair-splitting  speculations,  for  what  we  call  slum 
work.  Imagine  him  mounting  a  "goods-box  platform,"  surround- 
ed by  a  company  of  forlorn  and  forsaken  men,  adjusting  his  eye- 
glasses, and,  beginning  in  the  lisping  accents  of  a  dainty  and 
artificial  elocution,  to  say :  "Gentlemen,  you  know  the  most  learned 
men  of  our  remarkable  age  have  discovered  there  were  at  least 
two  Isaiahs.  And  you  know  the  book  of  Job  is  only  an  ancient 
Oriental  drama,  and  Ruth  is  a  Hebrew  idyl."  What  would  his  au- 
dience do  ?  Well,  some  one  of  the  crowd  would  probably  say :  "O, 
come  along,  boys,  there  is  no  use  listening  to  that  stuflF.  Let's  go 
and  get  a  drink."  [Laughter.]  Preachers  and  performances  of 
that  type  are  worse  than  useless  in  the  slums  of  the  home  field, 
as  they  are  purposeless  and  paralytic  in  the  presence  of  the  heathen. 

Now,  I  have  a  practical  proposition  to  submit.  In  the  heathen 
world  we  find  the  greatest  moral  destitution,  and  the  type  of  Chris- 
tianity which  I  have  been  describing  is  absolutely  palsied  and  in- 
effective there.  The  slums  of  our  great  cities  are  the  points  of 
direct  need  and  most  dangerous  strain  in  the  home  field,  and  this 
emasculated  gospel  is  worthless  for  redeeming  the  slums.  It  can 
do  nothing,  therefore,  on  either  side  of  the  world  at  the  points 
where  men  most  need  help.  Can  that  be  a  gospel  at  all  which 
fails  where  a  gospel  is  most  sorely  needed  ?  Now,  here  is  a  scien- 
tific test  for  the  gospel  of  liberalism.  [Laughter.]  That  test  is 
what  you  might  call  the  "inductive  process ;"  and  when  tried  by 
induction,  liberalism  is  found  wanting.     [Applause.] 

But  if  you  do  not  speedily  carry  the  true  gospel  of  Christ  to  all 
the  world,  you  will  inevitably  persuade  yourselves  to  accept  the 
lazy  liberalism  which  is  content  to  believe  that  any  religion  is  a 
message  to  men  from  God.  You  cannot  long  hold  with  strength 
the  truth  of  Christianity  unless  you  hold  it  as  the  one  faith  which 
all  the  nations  must  have,  and  undertake  to  do  all  that  in  you  lies 
to  give  it  to  them.     [From  the  audience,  "Amen !  Amen !"] 

The  fact  is,  it  is  inhuman  for  a  man  to  have  any  truth  which 
others  need  and  selfishly  withhold  it  from  them.  For  instance,  a 
few  years  ago  a  man  discovered  the  anti-toxin  which  overcomes 


THE  CALL  TO  GO  FORWARD.  1 35 

diphtheria ;  but  he  reserved  to  himself  a  royalty  on  its  use,  and  he 
has  been  censured  by  all  good  men  everywhere.  His  selfishness 
has  killed  the  glory  of  his  discovery.  The  world  uses  his  remedy, 
but  despises  his  spirit.  His  remedy  has  gone  round  the  world 
without  a  missionary  society  to  send  it.  Men  of  nobler  mind  than 
the  discoverer  have  given  it  to  mankind.  True  men  will  not  hold 
any  truth  in  selfishness. 

If  I  knew  all  the  arithmetic  that  is  known — but  I  do  not  [Laugh- 
ter]— if  I  were  the  only  man  in  the  world  who  knew  arithmetic, 
I  would  be  bound  to  give  the  knowledge  of  it  to  all  the  rest  as 
far  as  my  ability  would  go.  If  I  were  the  only  man  in  the  earth 
who  was  acquainted  with  the  theory  and  application  of  electricity, 
I  would  be  bound  to  impart  the  secret  to  all  others.  How  much 
more  are  we  bound  to  give  to  all  men  the  knowledge  of  Him  who 
is  the  "Light  of  the  World,"  the  "Sun  of  Righteousness,  with 
healing  in  His  wings !" 

But  having  considered  somewhat  the  effect  upon  ourselves  of 
going  backward  or  standing  still  in  the  work,  let  us  now  consider 
what  would  be  the  effect  of  such  retrogression  or  stationariness 
on  the  unchristianized  nations.  Even  if  their  faiths  could  be 
justly  regarded  as  comrades  of  Christianity  and  partial  revelations 
from  God,  they  cannot  maintain  their  old  systems  much  longer. 
Pagan  faiths  are  doomed;  and  if  Christianity  fails  to  occupy 
pagan  lands,  the  nations  who  dwell  in  them  must  soon  become 
faithless  people,  "without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world," 
You  have  heard  what  our  friend,  Mr.  Ellis,  has  told  us  of  the 
perishing  cults  of  the  Orient.  Mohammedanism  js  also  paralyzed 
and  prostrated;  it  is  strong  to  persecute,  but  feeble  to  redeem. 
Pull  away  its  political  supports,  and  it  will  fall  prostrate  upon  its 
face,  never  to  rise  again.  Its  chief  supporter  is  aptly  called  the 
"Sick  Man  of  the  East." 

And  all  forms  of  religion,  except  evangelical  Christianity,  are 
"sicklied  over,"  not  with  the  "pale  cast  of  thought,"  but  with  the 
palor  of  perishing  superstitions.  Stricken  with  blindness  in  the 
blazing  light  of  modern  times,  they  walk  like  blind  men  are  led, 
held  up  by  the  hands  of  political  guardians  and  conducted  by  the 
manipulations  of  priestly  guides. 

Take  Romanism,  for  example.  It  is  a  degenerate  form  of 
Christianity,  although  in  many  respects  more  pagan  than  Chris- 
tian.   It  is  doomed,  although  its  final  judgment  may  be  postponed 


136  THE  OBLIGATION. 

for  a  season  and  its  fall  may  be  delayed.  A  few  days  ago  one  of 
its  archbishops  in  our  own  country  was  reported  in  the  press  dis- 
patches as  j>redicting  and  lamenting  the  early  disestablishment 
of  the  Roman  Church  in  Italy.  In  Austria  there  is  a  great  move- 
ment away  from  Romanism.  In  old  Spain,  the  most  loyal  of  the 
papal  nations,  a  religious  reformation  is  setting  up.  In  Portugal, 
belated  and  benighted  though  it  be,  the  light  of  a  new  religious 
era  is  appearing  like  the  dawn.  All  the  world  knows  of  the  revo- 
lution going  on  in  France.  Latin  America,  from  Mexico  to  Terra 
del  Fuego,  is  penetrated  through  and  through  with  evangelical 
influences;  while  Romanism  is  semi-moribund,  its  most  marked 
evidences  of  vitality  being  mostly  such  as  come  from  the  stimula- 
tion applied  by  a  progressive  Protestantism.  In  Cuba,  for  exam- 
ple, our  missionaries  have  driven  the  Romish  priests  to  preaching 
as  tliey  had  never  done  before  Protestantism  entered  the  island. 
When  I  first  visited  Cuba,  in  the  winter  of  1898-99,  I  found  few 
seats  in  the  churches.  There  was  provision  made  for  kneeling 
before  images  and  prostrating  the  body  before  high  altars,  but 
little  or  no  provision  for  sitting  down  and  hearing  a  sermon.  It 
is  not  so  now.  In  all  the  churches  there  are  seats — somewhat 
variegated,  like  Jacob's  cattle,  but  seats  nevertheless.  In  one 
cathedral  I  counted,  when  attending  services,  twelve  different  kinds 
of  chairs  and  benches.  The  Catholic  fathers  had  evidently  gath- 
ered sitting  devices  in  a  hurry ;  and  in  that  place  before  a  small 
congregation,  sitting  on  the  assorted  seats,  a  priest  was  doing  his 
best  to  preach  a  sermon.  He  was  evidently  not  used  to  such 
work,  and  most  of  his  talk  was  an  incoherent  rant  against  "los 
Protestantes ;"  but  he  was  doing,  I  doubt  not,  the  best  he  could. 
At  any  rate,  I  was  willing  to  find  him  guilty  of  an  assault  with 
intent  to  preach.  [Laughter.]  Henceforth  Romanism  must 
preach  in  Cuba  or  go  out  of  business ;  and  it  may  be  that  it  will 
have  to  go  out  of  business  by  trying  to  preach. 

The  Protestantized  Romanism  you  see  in  our  country  is  bad 
enough,  but  it  is  infinitely  better  than  that  which  one  meets  in 
what  are  called  "Roman  Catholic  countries."  The  case  of  Roman- 
ism here  is  a  good  deal  like  that  of  Cleopatra's  Needle.  As  long 
as  it  stood  in  Egypt  it  remained  almost  unchanged  for  centuries ; 
but  when  it  was  brought  into  the  atmosphere  of  England  and 
set  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  it  began  to  crumble.  If  it  had 
not  been  treated  speedily  with  a  coating  of  paraffin,  it  would 


THE  CALL  TO  GO  FORWARD.  137 

have  disintegrated  utterly.  So  Romanism  in  the  United  States 
has  had  laid  on  its  outer  surface  a  paste  of  Protestantism  to  keep 
it  from  going  to  pieces.  In  the  lands  where  it  has  had  its  own 
way,  and  stood  up  in  its  character,  naked  and  undisguised,  the 
people  are  turning  away  from  it. 

So  also  the  superstitions  of  Asia  are  discredited  and  doomed. 
They  continue  to  exist,  and  millions  of  people  still  adhere  to  them 
formally.  Social  usages,  domestic  customs,  political  forms,  and 
commercial  interests  combine  to  give  them  a  semblance  of 
strength ;  but  they  are  decayed  at  the  center,  and  their  fall  at  last 
is  as  inevitable  as  the  operation  of  the  law  of  gravitation.  Bud- 
dhism in  Japan,  for  instance,  is  doomed.  It  is  said  that  under  its 
shelter  are  housed  eight  million  gods  in  Japan,  and  I  suppose  the 
figure  is  not  too  large.  But  there  are  more  gods  in  Japan  than 
there  are  Japanese  men  and  women  who  sincerely  worship  them. 
Perhaps  some  of  you  have  seen  what  a  Georgia  farmer  calls  a 
"new  ground."  It  is  a  tract  of  ground  only  partially  cleared  of  the 
trees.  Perhaps  half  of  the  larger  trees  are  "cut  around"  in  order 
to  kill  them,  although  they  are  left  standing.  Those  trees  do  not 
fall  down  the  first  year  after  they  are  girdled  with  the  gashes  of 
the  death-dealing  ax ;  some  of  them  may  put  forth  for  one  season 
a  few  leaves.  But  it  is  not  safe  to  walk  under  them  when  the 
March  winds  of  the  second  year  are  blowing  over  the  "new 
ground."  Dead  limbs  and  decaying  trunks  are  then  falling  all 
about.  In  a  few  years  they  are  all  gone,  and  in  a  decade  even  the 
stumps  have  disappeared  and  the  old  roots  in  the  ground  have 
rotted.  Well,  that  is  the  condition  of  Buddhism  in  Japan  to-day. 
It  is  "cut  around"  and  its  leaves  are  withering.  When  I  was  in 
the  old  capital  of  Japan,  Kioto,  the  property  of  the  greatest 
Buddhist  temple  there,  perhaps  the  greatest  in  the  world,  had 
been  levied  on  for  debt,  and  the  official  corresponding  to  the 
sheriff  of  our  country  had  advertised  it  for  sale.  The  sale  began 
on  the  day  we  left  the  city.  The  authorities  of  the  temple  had 
borrowed  money  to  keep  it  up,  and  they  had  pledged  city  prop- 
erty for  the  payment  of  the  debt.  Their  revenues  had  so  fallen 
off  in  the  meantime  that  the  bankers  to  whom  they  were  indebted 
had  obtained  judgment  against  them  in  the  courts,  and  were  pro- 
ceeding to  collect  the  debt  by  sheriff's  sale.  Yet  that  is  one  of 
the  newest  and  richest  temples  of  Buddhism  in  the  world.  When 
it  was  erected,  not  so  very  long  ago,  its  huge  columns  were  lifted 


138  THE   OBLIGATION. 

into  their  positions  by  cables  made  from  the  hair  of  the  women 
of  Japan.  I  saw  the  cables  in  the  temple.  When  a  woman  will 
part  with  her  hair,  native  or  artificial,  to  build  a  temple,  she  is 
certainly  devoted  to  the  religion  for  which  it  stands.  [Laughter.] 
A  temple  to  which  the  women  of  Japan,  a  generation  ago,  gave 
the  hair  off  their  heads  cannot  now  command  money  enough  to 
keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  sheriff.  Buddhism  and  Shintoism 
both  are  losing  their  grip  on  the  Japanese  people.  It  is  hard  for 
them  to  retain  the  respect  of  people  whose  increasing  enlighten- 
ment daily  discredits  all  superstition.  The  Japanese  people  are 
learning  on  all  lines  of  knowledge.  Just  think  of  their  progress 
in  medical  science  alone !  When  the  armies  of  Japan  went  into 
Manchuria  to  meet  the  forces  of  Russia,  scientists  were  sent  be- 
fore them  who  analyzed  all  the  water  on  the  way,  and  placarded 
every  pool  and  well  and  stream,  warning  the  troops  against  all  the 
water  which  was  not  fit  to  drink.  By  consequence,  sickness  in 
their  camps  was  marvelously  diminished.  The  superstitions  of 
Buddhism  cannot  long  survive  alongside  scientific  methods  of 
that  sort.  Whether  Japan  becomes  Christian  or  not,  it  cannot 
remain  Buddhist.  It  may  become  atheistic  and  agnostic ;  that  is 
a  real  peril.  Indeed,  such  has  come  to  pass  in  a  measure  already. 
Western  learning  has  been  acquired  by  the  Japanese  faster  than 
Christianity  has  been  given  to  them,  and  by  consequence  many 
of  them  are  to-day  faithless  and  despairing.  When  I  was  there, 
in  1906,  there  was  prevalent  in  the  land,  especially  among  the  stu- 
dent class,  an  epidemic  of  suicide.  Science  had  quenched  the 
light  of  their  old  faiths  without  giving  them  the  light  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  they  had  come  to  feel  in  such  a  faithless  condition 
that  life  was  not  worth  living.  As  my  Brother  Ellis  has  told  you, 
sending  your  Western  learning  to  Japan  will  not  meet  the  needs 
of  that  brilliant  but  restless  nation.  The  source  of  Japan's  dis- 
tress and  danger  to-day  is  the  possession  of  learning  without  the 
knowledge  of  God. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  situation  in  China  ?  All  over  that 
awakening  land  there  is  a  universal  hunger  for  the  "Western 
learning."  Many  things  have  conspired  to  bring  on  this  yearning 
for  the  "new  learning."  China's  war  with  Japan  contributed  to 
this  result,  as  did  also  the  Russo-Japanese  war.  Movements  of 
international  commerce  and  communication  have  had  much  to  do 
with  it.     Christian  missionaries  have  done  most  of  all  to  create 


THE    CALL   TO    GO   FORWARD.  139 

this  condition.  By  all  these  influences  the  Chinese  have  been 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  Confucianism  and  the  system  of  learn- 
ing arising  from  it  cannot  meet  China's  wants  any  longer.  Hence 
the  old  system  of  education  has  been  discarded.  The  examinations 
of  the  civil  service  now  include  the  subjects  of  the  "new  learn- 
ing," and  thousands  of  students  who  have  been  studying  for  years 
the  old  Confucian  classics  with  a  view  to  promotion  have  been 
called  upon  to  throw  all  their  work  away  and  start  over  again. 
And  they  have  done  so  without  the  slightest  protest  or  disturb- 
ance. No  fact  could  be  more  convincing  that  China  is  awaken- 
ing and  has  determined  to  acquire  the  arts  and  sciences  of  the 
Western  nations.  Hence  the  Chinese  are  calling  for  Christianity, 
not  directly,  to  be  sure,  but  indirectly  by  their  demand  for  the 
"new  learning ;"  for,  as  Dr.  Anderson  told  you  this  morning,  their 
thoughtful  men  know  full  well  that  they  cannot  acquire  the  learn- 
ing of  Christendom  without  absorbing  the  religion  of  Christen- 
dom. Herein  is  a  constraining  call  to  go  forward.  Can  we 
stand  still  or  go  backward  with  such  an  immeasurable  opportu- 
nity before  us  ?  Can  we  with  bread  enough  in  our  Father's  house 
to  spare  refuse  to  feed  this  hungry  nation,  the  most  populous  in 
the  world,  but  starving  for  want  of  spiritual  food? 

What  of  Korea?  There  is  the  most  pathetic  case  of  all.  The 
Koreans  are  very  poor,  and  they  are  industrially  hopeless.  Some 
centuries  back  their  industries  were  prostrated  and  their  artisans 
were  carried  into  captivity  by  Hideyoshi,  who  is  called  the  "Napo- 
leon of  Japan,"  and  who  was  as  cruel  a  monster  as  the  Napoleon 
of  France.  In  fact.  Napoleons  anywhere  are  horrible  creatures. 
Well,  this  "Napoleon  of  Japan"  carried  away  Korea's  industrial 
arts  by  taking  captive  their  artists  and  artisans,  and  he  thus  pros- 
trated their  industrial  system.  Since  his  day  corruption  among 
Korean  officials  has  made  the  prostration  still  more  profound. 
Korea  is,  therefore,  inexpressibly  poor  and  industrially  hopeless. 
The  very  motives  for  industries  have  been  taken  away  by  oppres- 
sion and  corruption. 

The  Korean  nation  is  also  religionless.  Centuries  ago  Bud- 
dhism was  the  religion  of  Korea ;  but  the  Buddhist  priests,  who  are 
the  Romanists  of  the  Orient,  intermeddled  so  mischievously  with 
politics  that  their  religion  was  outlawed.  The  old  dynasty  with 
which  they  had  been  in  league  was  dethroned,  the  capital  was  moved 
from  Songdo  to  Seoul,  and  it  was  decreed  that  no  Buddhist  priest 


140  THE   OBLIGATION. 

should  put  foot  in  Seoul  forever.  No  priest  has  been  there  in 
all  these  later  centuries  until  since  the  Japanese  occupation. 
Buddhism,  being-  thus  discredited  at  court,  fell  into  decay  every- 
where else  in  the  land,  and  so  Korea  was  left  without  any  reli- 
gion. But  renouncing  all  religion  cannot  destroy  the  religious 
principle  in  the  human  breast,  and  so  the  religionless  Koreans 
turned  to  a  grotesque  spiritism  and  devil  worship.  The  spirit 
world  broods  over  them,  and  drops  fear  upon  all  their  lives  and 
pours  grief  into  all  their  souls.  I  think  the  most  bitter  cry  my 
ears  ever  heard  was  one  which  broke  upon  the  night  air  near  our 
mission  compound  one  night  in  1906  when  I  was  there.  I  did 
not,  of  course,  know  the  meaning  of  the  words,  but  the  cry  was 
burdened  with  grief.  I  asked  the  missionary  what  it  meant,  antl 
he  replied :  "Some  one  is  dying  down  there."  I  then  learned  that 
when  one  is  dying  among  the  Koreans  a  member  of  the  family 
will  get  upon  the  roof  of  the  little  mud  house  and  cry  after  the 
spirit:  "O,  dear  one,  do  not  depart.  Come  back!  Come  back!" 
Here,  then,  was  a  sorrow-stricken  man,  calling  in  vain  after  the 
loved  but  departing  spirit,  and  knowing  nothing  of  Him  who  has 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  in  the  gospel. 

Korea  is  politically  hopeless  also.  The  Koreans  desire  political 
independence  first  of  all.  If  they  cannot  have  that,  they  would 
prefer  next  the  suzerainty  of  China  because  it  is  nominal  and  light. 
If  that  is  denied  them,  they  would  like  to  have  a  protectorate  by 
some  Western  power,  Russia  or  the  United  States,  because  they 
fancy  such  a  protectorate  would  be  too  far  off  to  oppress  them, 
and  would  bring  them  material  gains.  The  last  thing  in  the  world 
they  want  is  subjection  to  Japan,  and  that  is  what  they  have. 
They  know  what  "benevolent  assimilation"  by  the  Japanese  means ; 
and  they  may  well  abhor  it,  however  it  may  be  disguised  by  fair 
words. 

What  does  this  poor,  oppressed,  and  religionless  people  need? 
What  do  they  ask  at  your  hands  ?  They  do  not  need  your  philos- 
ophy; they  have  had  the  Chinese  classics  for  centuries,  and  they 
have  had  thinkers  among  themselves  since  the  days  of  King  Da- 
vid's reign  over  United  Israel.  If  that  is  all  you  have  to  give 
them,  you  need  not  go  forward  to  help  them. 

The  supreme,  imperative  need  of  Japan,  China,  and  Korea — 
the  crying  want  of  all  the  nations  of  the  Far  East — is  Chris- 
tianity.    These  nations  are  not  savages;  they  are  heathen,  but 


THE   CALL   TO  GO   FORWARD.  I4I 

they  are  no  more  barbarians  than  were  the  men  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome.  Cicero,  the  orator,  was  a  heathen,  but  he  was  not  a 
savage;  he  was  a  thinker  and  a  man  of  letters,  Herodotus,  the 
historian,  was  a  pagan,  but  not  a  barbarian.  He  was  a  cultivated 
man,  who  recorded  for  history  nearly  as  many  untrue  things  as 
Lord  Macaulay.  [Laughter.]  Virgil  was  a  heathen,  as  also  was 
Homer  before  him ;  but  even  the  sublime  Milton  did  not  disdain 
to  make  their  epics  the  models  of  his  own  heroic  verse. 

So  also  these  Orientals  of  whom  I  have  been  speaking  are  not 
savage,  although  they  are  pagans.  And  they  are  not  bad  war- 
riors. Even  the  Chinese,  who  have  been  accounted  a  nation  of 
cowards,  can  fight.  They  are  not  afraid  to  die.  I  must  dissent 
with  deference  and  hesitation  from  one  thing  said  by  Dr.  Ander- 
son this  morning.  He  said  the  Chinese  were  not  a  warlike  peo- 
ple. My  reading  has  given  me  the  impression  that  before  the 
setting  up  of  the  Tartar  dynasty  they  were  very  warlike,  and  in 
our  day  we  may  see  what  the  scientists  call  a  "reversion  of  type." 
It  is  said  they  ran  away  from  the  battle  when  they  met  the  Japa- 
nese army  in  Korea.  I  do  not  blame  them;  and  that  affair  does 
not  prove  them  cowards.  As  I  have  been  told,  Li  Hung  Chang 
brought  on  that  war,  and  got  large  gains  out  of  it.  In  preparing 
for  it  Li  Hung  Chang,  individual,  traded  with  Li  Hung  Chang, 
official,  selling  him,  among  other  things,  some  badly  assorted  arms 
and  ammunition.  The  caliber  of  the  guns  and  the  size  of  the 
fixed  ammunition  were  not  the  same ;  and  when  the  time  came  to 
use  them,  they  couldn't  get  the  ammunition  into  the  guns.  You 
see,  that  wasn't  good  ammunition  to  fight  with.  Well,  they  ran. 
What  would  you  have  done?     [Laughter.] 

Let  me  tell  you :  You  allow  these  people  time  to  wake  up — and 
they  are  going  to  wake  up — then  indeed  you  will  have  something 
to  consider,  China  awake  without  Christ  will  be  a  "yellow  peril" 
in  truth.  Certain  gentlemen  in  Congress,  who  have  been  eating 
I  don't  know  what,  are  having  periodic  nightmares  about  Japan 
coming  over  here  and  raising  a  row,  Japan  is  not  coming  over 
here  for  a  fight  soon,  if  ever.  She  wants  no  war  with  the  United 
States,  It  would  not  suit  her.  Let  Japan  engage  in  a  war  with 
us,  and  what  would  be  the  result?  There  would  be  three  or  four 
months,  perhaps,  during  which  we  would  not  be  very  successful. 
But  then  China  would  wake  up,  and  say,  "I'm  going  to  take  Korea 
back;"  and  Russia  would  get  even  for  her  grudge;  and  then 


142  THE   OBLIGATION. 

our  forces  would  get  in  good  shape,  and  there  would  be  a  setback 
to  national  ambition  in  the  "Land  of  the  Rising  Sun"  for  several 
centuries.  They  know  all  that  just  as  well  as  you  do.  [Applause.] 
Japan  is  not  caring  especially  about  matters  in  America. 

Now,  you  have  been  in  the  harvest  fields — that  is,  some  of  you 
have — and  you  have  sometimes  stirred  up  an  old  mother  quail, 
and  she  would  go  off  limping  on  one  leg  and  one  wing,  and  you 
would  go  after  her.  She  would  lead  you  thus  far  afield,  and  after 
she  was  sure  you  were  far  enough  away,  to  your  great  surprise 
you  discovered  just  as  you  were  about  to  catch  her  that  she  was 
certainly  convalescent  as  she  flew  away  out  of  sight.  Do  you 
know  what  was  the  matter  ?  Her  young  were  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion from  that  she  led  you. 

Japan  will  seem  to  make  much  ado  about  a  San  Francisco  school 
question ;  but  her  young  are  in  Manchuria  and  Korea.  If  she  can 
secure  cotton  lands  in  Korea  and  wheat  lands  in  Manchuria,  and 
colonies  in  both,  she  can  lay  the  basis  for  commercial  success ;  and 
then  she  can  do  anything,  but  not  before.  There  is  no  immediate 
danger  from  Japan. 

But  you  let  China  wake  up  and  train  millions  of  troops  in  the 
Flowery  Kingdom  and  create  a  navy,  but  remain  heathen  at  heart, 
and  then  no  man  can  foresee  what  will  follow.  If  China  should 
fall  into  the  habit  of  fighting,  there  is  no  saying  what  would  hap- 
pen. 

We  talk  about  the  "Far  East."  There  isn't  any  "Far  East;" 
it  is  the  "Nigh  East"  now.  Bishop  Pierce  went  overland  from 
Georgia  to  San  Francisco  in  1859.  He  left  Georgia  in  April  and 
reached  San  Francisco  about  the  middle  of  June.  He  rode  in  a 
stagecoach  most  of  the  way.  He  was  a  long  time  in  getting  to 
the  end  of  his  journey.  He  called  on  Capt.  W.  T.  Sherman  on 
his  way,  at  Fort  Davis,  and  the  Captain  entertained  him  hospita- 
bly. But  Captain  Sherman  came  through  Georgia  five  or  six 
years  after  that  and  the  Bishop  did  not  entertain  him,  so  far  as 
I  know.  [Laughter.]  But  with  Captain  Sherman's  help  and  the 
aid  of  many  others  it  took  Bishop  Pierce  two  months  to  make  the 
trip.  But  I  left  Atlanta  on  July  18,  1906,  and  ate  my  breakfast 
in  Yokohama,  Japan,  on  August  8.  On  landing  I  sent  my  wife  a 
cablegram,  and  came  mighty  near  getting  the  answer  before  it 
started.    [Laughter.]    You  see  all  lands  are  close  together  now. 

Queen  Victoria,  in  her  time,  fell  down  the  stairs  of  Windsor 


THE   CALL   TO   GO    FORWARD.  I43 

Castle  an3  sprained  her  ankle.  This  mishap  was  known  in  New 
York  several  hours  before  it  happened.  If  the  cablegram  had 
gone  on  around  the  world,  her  Majesty  might  have  been  fore- 
warned, so  that  the  accident  need  not  have  occurred.  [Laughter.] 
The  ends  of  the  earth  are  close  together  now. 

Thomas  Jefferson  said,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Lincoln  stated  the 
idea  more  fully,  that  this  country  would  have  to  be  all  free  or  all 
slave  territory.  The  notion  was  combated  for  some  time.  Lee 
and  Grant  and  Johnston  and  Sherman  took  up  leading  parts  in 
the  debate  toward  the  close  of  the  controversy.  We  found  out, 
after  that  protracted  and  somewhat  warm  argument  of  four  years, 
that  the  thing  was  true.  [Laughter.]  The  conviction  has  deep- 
ened ever  since  until  now  nobody  doubts  it.     [Applause.] 

The  ends  of  the  earth  are  closer  together  now  than  Washington 
and  New  Orleans  were  when  Thomas  Jefferson  was  President. 
[Applause.]  Take,  for  example,  the  battle  of  the  Allies  before 
the  walls  of  Peking.  We  knew  the  results  of  the  fights  of  each 
morning  by  reading  the  evening  papers.  But  when  Andrew  Jack- 
son— I  think  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  he  is  called  familiarly  and 
affectionately  "Old  Hickory" — when  Andrew  Jackson  fought  Gen- 
eral Pakenham  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  they  fought  some 
days  after  the  war  between  England  and  the  United  States  had 
closed.  [Laughter.]  Just  think  of  men  fighting  battles  when 
there  was  not  any  war  going  on !  But  Andrew  was  fond  of  that 
sort  of  thing.  He  was  at  New  Orleans,  so  remote  from  Washing- 
ton, however,  that  the  authorities  at  the  national  capital  could 
not  tell  him  to  stop.  And  he  never  would  stop  until  somebody 
told  him  to  do  so,  and  he  did  not  always  stop  then.  [Laughter.] 
In  Jackson's  time  news  traveled  slowly.    It  is  not  so  now. 

Thus  by  rapid  transit  and  speedy  communication  the  possibility 
for  Christianizing  this  world  is  thrust  into  our  hands,  and  that 
great  achievement  will  have  to  be  accomplished  by  evangelical 
Christianity,  and  largely  by  the  Christianity  of  the  two  great 
EngHsh-speaking  nations.     [Applause.] 

The  ends  of  the  earth  are  close  together,  and  all  men  now  are 
neighbors.  National  isolation  is  impossible.  All  things  found  in 
one  land  run  rapidly  through  all  lands.  Contagions  of  world- 
wide evil  and  movements  of  universal  good  are  possibilities.  The 
evangelization  of  the  world  is  not  beyond  the  power  of  the  great 
English-speaking  nations,  and  it  seems  as  if  this  great  and  blessed 


144  THE  OBLIGATION. 

work  had  been  committed  mainly  to  their  hands.  [Applause.] 
There  are  some  evidences  that  they  are  conscious  of  the  solemn 
responsibility.  The  Protestant  Churches  of  the  world  contribute 
annually  a  little  more  than  twenty-two  million  dollars  to  the  cause 
of  foreign  missions ;  and  of  this  sum,  the  Churches  of  the  English- 
speaking  nations  give  above  eighteen  million  dollars.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  nations  take  the  lead  in  this  mighty  movement  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  sinning  and  suffering. 

If  you  good  people  who  are  not  Methodists  will  not  listen,  or 
take  it  amiss  if  you  hear  me,  I  will  say  another  thing  in  this  con- 
nection. What  I  am  about  to  say  is  true,  however,  whether  you 
hear  it  or  not.  It  is  this :  Methodism  will  have  to  do  a  very  large 
part  of  this  great  work  of  evangelical  Christianity  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  nations.  Its  doctrines  and  its  polity  give  it  special  qualifi- 
cations for  the  work  of  foreign  missions.  It  believes  in  the  possi- 
bility of  saving  the  whole  world,  and  not  a  mere  fraction  called 
the  "elect."  It  sends  out  preachers  without  waiting  for  them  to 
receive  calls.  The  motto  of  its  ministry  is:  "The  World  Is  My 
Parish."  Methodism  is  thus  pledged  to  and  prepared  for  planetary 
preaching.  It  must  ever  heed  the  "call  to  go  forward"  to  the  "re- 
gions beyond." 

Moreover,  we  can  offer  no  excuse  for  failing  to  go  forward. 
We  cannot  say  that  we  have  not  men  enough.  More  men  offer 
for  the  foreign  field  than  we  send  out.  Our  mission  boards  lack 
money,  but  not  men ;  and  our  people  have  in  their  possession  all 
the  money  required  for  this  great  enterprise.  Alas!  they  have 
it,  and  they  hold  it !  Some  men  think  less  of  their  lives  than  oth- 
ers do  of  their  gold.  A  holy  man  will  give  up  his  son  or  a  conse- 
crated mother  will  yield  her  firstborn  for  the  work  of  foreign  mis- 
sions, while  their  neighbors  professing  equal  faith  will  withhold 
most  stubbornly  their  dollars  from  the  cause. 

I  recall  a  case  in  point.  When  I  visited  Cuba  the  first  time,  just 
after  the  Spanish-American  War,  conditions  were  very  hard  and 
unhealthy  there.  Yellow  fever  laid  its  victims  in  the  streets,  and 
starving  people  met  you  on  all  sides.  After  looking  into  the  situ- 
ation, I  returned  to  seek  a  man  for  the  mission  in  Havana.  My 
mind  turned  to  an  admirable  young  man  who  had  been  a  student 
in  Emory  College  when  I  was  President  of  that  institution.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  South  Georgia  Conference,  as  also  was  his 
honored  father;  and  as  the  session  of  that  Conference  was  at 


THE   CALL   TO   GO   FORWARD.  145 

hand,  I  went  down  to  the  place  of  its  meeting  to  see  him.  An 
elder  brother  of  the  young  man  had  died  on  the  mission  field,  and 
was  buried  at  Durango,  Mexico.  I  naturally  feared  the  affection- 
ate father  would  be  unwilling  to  give  another  son  to  a  mission 
then  so  dangerous  to  life ;  and  I  went  hesitatingly,  wondering  how 
I  would  be  able  to  overcome  his  objections.  But  when  I  met  him, 
he  said :  "We  gave  Robert  to  Mexico ;  and  when  I  read  your  appeal 
for  Cuba,  I  said  to  my  wife  that  you  would  want  George  for 
Cuba."  And  then  he  added  with  deep  emotion :  "We  are  glad  to 
give  him  also  to  the  work."  The  grand  old  man  and  his  devoted 
wife  rejoiced  in  giving  two  sons  to  the  foreign  field.  But  when 
I  appealed  to  a  rich  man  for  money  to  send  George  MacDonell 
to  Cuba,  he  gave  me  grudgingly  the  pitiful  sum  of  twenty-five 
dollars.  Alas !  alas !  that  money  is  so  dear  and  "flesh  and  blood 
so  cheap !" 

Money  is  all  we  now  need  to  evangelize  the  world.  Thousands 
of  men  are  waiting  to  be  sent  out.  All  the  doors  of  all  the  nations 
are  open  to  receive  them.  Only  the  money  is  wanting  which  the 
work  requires,  and  the  members  of  the  Churches  have  that  if  they 
would  only  part  with  it  for  the  promotion  of  God's  cause  among 
men.  We  can  give  no  excuse  for  not  going  forward  except  the 
niggardliness  which  withholds  the  means,  and  we  certainly  cannot 
plead  our  sin  in  defense  of  our  delay  to  go  forward. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  say  we  cannot  go  forward  because  of  the 
"financial  panic."  The  panic  is  rightly  named ;  it  is  a  panic,  and 
in  it  there  is  nothing  but  panic — unreasonable  fright  sprung  from 
insane  selfishness.  I  have  seen  financial  crises  before  this  time 
which  had  economic  reasons  to  justify  and  explain  them.  But 
there  is  no  reason  for  this  panic.  Not  a  statistical  fact  nor  an 
economic  principle  justifies  it.  It  is  simple,  senseless  fright.  A 
man  asked  me  the  other  day  when  I  thought  it  would  end.  I  re- 
plied: "In  the  name  of  sense,  how  can  I  know?"  You  see  a  dog 
running  at  breakneck  speed  down  the  street  with  a  tin  can  tied 
to  his  tail.  Some  silly  boy  started  him  going,  but  all  the  philoso- 
phers in  the  earth  could  not  tell  when  he  will  stop.  The  whole 
movement  depends  upon  the  strength  of  the  string  and  the  tail. 
[Laughter.]  The  poor  creature's  mind  has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
He  ceased  to  reason  when  he  began  to  run.  After  once  entertain- 
ing the  thought  of  running,  there  was  no  room  left  in  his  brain 
for  any  other  idea.  Auto-suggestion  to  change  the  current  of  his 
10 


146  ^  THE  OBLIGATION. 

reflection  and  bring  him  to  a  standstill  is  out  of  the  question.  And 
that  is  the  case  with  you  business  men.  When  you  get  over  your 
unreasoning  scare,  the  panic  will  pass.    [Applause.] 

We  have  hid  out  in  "old  stockings"  and  safety  vaults  money 
enough  for  all  the  great  work  God  wants  us  to  do.  We  cannot 
truthfully  say  that  we  have  not  the  resources  required  for  a  for- 
ward movement.  Last  year  the  government  statistics,  compiled 
from  the  tax  returns  of  the  American  people,  showed  considerably 
more  than  one  hundred  billion  dollars'  worth  of  property  in  the 
United  States.  That  showing  was  made  from  the  books  of  the 
tax  assessor;  and  if  we  swore  to  that  official  we  had  that  much, 
we  had  it.     [Great  laughter.] 

Your  civilization  is  stagnating  and  putrefying  with  material 
prosperity.  The  moral  miasmas  which  arise  from  your  accumu- 
lated and  unused  wealth  threaten  the  well-being  of  all  classes. 
The  pestilence  of  greed  pervades  all  places,  sometimes  penetrating 
to  the  pulpit  even.  It  corrupts  your  politics  and  defiles  your  social 
life;  it  divides  families  with  feuds  and  sets  communities  at  vari- 
ance with  each  other ;  it  moves  capital  to  oppress  labor  and  labor 
to  defraud  capital.  What  at  last  is  your  question  of  capital  and 
labor  but  a  contest  of  greed  ?  Were  the  wages  of  labor  or  the  re- 
turns of  capital  ever  so  great  among  any  people  ?  What  then  are 
they  quarreling  about?  What  is  the  meaning  of  their  strife  over 
money  except  it  be  that  each  is  mad  because  both  cannot  get  all  of 
it?  I  confess  that  I  cannot  get  interested  on  behalf  of  either  con- 
testant. It  is  a  quarrelsome  greed  that  animates  both  parties.  If 
it  were  a  contest  of  eagles,  vying  with  each  other  as  to  which 
could  fly  nearest  the  sun  and  hide  himself  deepest  in  the  rays  of 
that  radiant  orb,  I  could  watch  the  contest  with  eager  interest. 
But  over  a  contest  of  vultures  as  to  which  shall  get  the  largest 
share  of  the  carrion  which  they  have  jointly  discovered  my  enthu- 
siasm refuses  to  rise.     [Applause.] 

We  have  struggled  for  wealth ;  and  when  we  have  won  it,  we 
have  held  on  to  it  with  such  adoring  tenacity  that  covetousness 
has  tainted  all  our  ideals.  We  make  money  not  only  the  measure 
of  material  values,  but  the  standard  of  human  life  itself.  We 
are  beginning  to  feel  that  to  be  without  money  is  to  be  without 
character,  and  that  we  can  do  without  character  if  we  can  only 
have  money.  Our  competitions  are  ignoble  rivalries,  and  our 
social  system  is  rapidly  becoming  a  race  course  for  the  display  of 


THE   CALL   TO   GO   FORWARD.  14/ 

vulgarities.  We  are  the  bond  slaves  of  the  bond  market  and  most 
truly  the  "serfs  of  the  soil." 

But  if  a  generous  portion  of  our  vast  resources  were  turned 
loose  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  we  would  be  raised  by  the 
things  which  now  drag  us  down.  Our  contests  then  would  be 
not  the  barbaric  rivalries  of  greed,  but  the  holy  competitions  of 
beneficent  zeal ;  we  should  then  vie  with  each  other  as  to  who 
should  have  most  of  the  glory  of  carrying  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity into  all  the  heathen  lands.  [Applause.]  At  last  there  is 
but  one  enterprise  great  enough  to  draw  off  the  dangerous  re- 
sources of  Christendom  and  keep  them  at  a  safe  level,  and  that 
enterprise  is  the  great  work  of  bringing  the  whole  world  to  Christ. 
[Applause,] 

Indulge  me  in  one  other  reflection  concerning  how  it  would 
affect  us  if  we  stood  still  or  went  backward  in  the  work  of  mis- 
sions. To  stand  still  or  to  go  backward  we  must  break  with  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation.  We  must  go  forward  or  we  will  cease 
to  follow  him,  for  he  is  at  the  front.  There  are  those  who  talk  of 
"going  back  to  Christ;"  but  he  is  not  behind  us.  He  is  related 
to  us  as  he  was  to  Joshua  when  that  leader  of  Israel  saw  him  on 
the  walls  of  Jericho.  He  gave  Joshua  to  understand  that  he  was 
there  as  the  "Captain  of  the  Lord's  host,"  to  take  command  in 
person  on  the  field  and  lead  the  campaign  for  the  conquest  of 
Canaan.  In  like  manner  he  now  goes  before  the  hosts  of  Christen- 
dom for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  He  is  not  resting  in  the  rear, 
but  going  on  before.  If  we  follow  him,  we  go  forth  to  certain  vic- 
tory, to  a  triumph  which  will  bring  peace  to  all  lands  and  salvation 
to  all  peoples ;  if  we  refuse  to  follow  him,  we  shall  turn  backward 
to  a  moral  desolation  of  world-wide  despair  more  terrible  than  the 
wilderness  that  was  behind  Joshua  and  Israel.  We  cannot  turn 
back ;  we  will  not  turn  back ;  we  will  hear  and  heed  the  "call  to  go 
forward." 

Already  we  see  the  dawning  of  the  day  that  shall  end  in  world- 
wide victory.  The  golden  beams  of  its  promise  are  stealing  over 
all  the  earth.  The  high  noon  of  the  day  of  the  Lord  draws  near, 
when,  triumphant'  over  all  his  foes,  he  shall  be  proclaimed  by 
angels  and  men  "King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords."  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 


III. 

THE  OPPORTUNITY. 


XL  THE  SUPREME  OPPORTUNITY  OF 
THE  HOUR. 

XII.  China  :  The  Gibraltar  of  Missions. 

XIII.  Korea:  A  Great  Religious  Awakening. 

XIV.  The  Christian  Conquest  of  Japan. 
XV.  Brazil:  A  Bugle  Call  to  Victory. 

XVI.  Cuba:  On  the  Firing  Line. 
XVII.  Medical  Work  in  the  Orient. 


While  in  India  I  had  gone  to  see  the  Taj  Mahal,  at  Agra.  The  Taj  is 
a  great  mausoleum  of  white  marble,  built  in  memory  of  his  wife  by  Shah 
Jehan.  It  is  the  finest  piece  of  architecture  in  the  world.  I  have  seen 
most  of  the  world's  great  sights — and  most  of  them  disappoint  you — but 
the  Taj  Mahal  satisfies  completely.  It  is  a  feast  for  the  soul  that  loves 
beauty.  Whether  you  see  it  shimmering  in  the  glistening  noonday  sun  of 
India  or  bathed  in  the  opalescent  glow  of  eventide,  the  Taj  is  a  dream  of 
beauty.  I  walked  about  in  its  courts ;  I  went  through  its  corridors,  where 
the  light  infiltrates  through  its  alabaster  screens;  and  then  I  went  into 
that  great  pillared  dome,  where,  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl  and  colored 
stones,  is  inscribed  the  whole  Koran.  While  I  listened  the  guides  evoked 
from  the  dome  the  echo  which  lives  there  and  which  speaks  for  fifteen 
seconds.  I  tested  it  by  my  watch,  and  found  it  so.  Then,  to  my  good  for- 
tune, the  guides  and  the  tourists  all  left;  and,  with  my  wife  and  two 
friends,  I  was  alone  in  the  marble  rotunda.  And  I  had  an  inspiration.  I 
stepped  over  to  one  of  the  pillars  and,  raising  my  voice  to  the  center  of 
that  great  dome,  as  clearly  and  distinctly  as  I  could  I  enunciated  the 
Arabic  name  of  God.  For  twenty  seconds  by  this  watch  that  name  rose 
and  swelled  and  circled  and  recircled  and  echoed  and  reechoed  and  rever- 
berated and  volumed,  until  the  whole  vast  dome  was  filled  with  the  name 
of  God.  I  come  back  to  you  to  say  that  to-day,  to  whosoever  has  ears  to 
hear,  the  world  is  echoing  round  with  the  name  that  is  above  every  name. 

(150) 


XI. 


THE  SUPREME  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOUR. 


MR.    WILLIAM   T.   ELLIS,  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
I  have  come  to  you  to-night  not  to  make 
a  speech  (I  cannot  make  a  speech),  but  to 
tell  you  in  simple  words  what  I  have  seen. 
I  have  seen,  paradoxically,  Southern 
Methodist  crowds  made  up  of  yellow  men. 
I  recall,  one  evening  in  Kobe,  I  had  gone 
to  your  night  school,  where  a  great  com- 
pany of  Japanese  pay  a  tuition  fee  to 
be  taught  English  and  the  rudimentary 
branches  of  education ;  and  the  school  was 
so  successful  that  there  wasn't  room  for  them  in  the  building.  I 
saw  the  unusual  procedure  of  a  company  of  men  outside  of  each 
window,  standing  on  the  veranda,  with  their  heads  stuck  through 
the  window ;  thus,  in  their  eagerness,  getting  the  education  into 
their  heads,  if  not  into  their  bodies.  You  had  not  staff  enough 
to  teach  them;  so  the  teachers  had  called  to  their  aid  a  young 
English  clerk.  When  I  came  to  the  English  class  room,  this 
emergency  teacher  was  drilling  them  in  English  phrases,  and  the 
first  phrase  he  was  making  them  repeat  after  him  was :  *T  have 
got  a  dog."  They  learned  that  model  English  sentence,  and  then 
he  drilled  them  in  another  sentence:  "There  are  many  dogs  in 
Hengland." 

I  could  tell  you  about  the  son  of  the  Southern  Methodist  mis- 
sionary (I  have  made  all  kinds  of  criticism  of  missionaries,  so 
let  me  tell  this  right  at  the  fountain  head  of  things),  a  bright 
American  boy,  about  ten  years  old,  who  is  the  son  of  one  of 
your  men  in  Japan.  I  was  in  his  city  on  a  feast  day,  and  it  is 
the  custom  of  the  priests  to  put  out  in  the  streets  the  great  tem- 
ple drums,  and  trust  the  small  boys  to  make  racket  enough  to 
attract  the  attention  of  the  gods.    And  this  devout  little  Meth- 

(151) 


152  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

odist  was  sitting  astride  a  Shinto  drum,  banging  away  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  Shinto  deities ! 

I  have  been  a  teacher  only  once  in  my  life,  and  that  was  over 
at  Hiroshima.  I  went  to  teach  an  English  class  for  your  Mr. 
Meyers.  I  didn't  know  how  to  talk  Japanese,  but  we  talked  in 
English  with  some  difficulty.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  San 
Francisco  disturbances.  I  said  to  the  young  men:  "I  am  afraid 
you  will  want  to  break  my  head  because  I  am  an  American?" 
One  of  them  responded  very  quickly  in  his  lame  English :  "There 
is  no  such  mind  in  our  hearts." 

More  seriously,  I  want  to  say  that  in  Japan,  Korea,  and  China 
you  have,  to  my  knowledge,  a  company  of  men  and  women  whose 
work,  if  you  knew  it,  would  fill  you  with  a  deep  and  overflowing 
pride.     [Applause.] 

There  sits  on  this  platform  a  man  whom  I  greatly  desired  to 
meet,  because,  when  I  was  in  Japan,  I  was  hearing  of  him, 
North  and  South :  "This  is  the  way  Dr.  Lambuth  did  it ;"  "This 
is  what  Dr.  Lambuth  said."  His  far-visioned,  statesmanlike, 
sanctified  character  has  made  an  impression  upon  Japan  that 
will  not  soon  fade.     [Great  applause.] 

I  should  like  to  philosophize,  if  I  were  able,  about  the  way 
mission  work  keeps  men  young.  Over  in  Kobe  you  have  a  Dr. 
Newton — I  wish  you  knew  your  men  better !  If  you  did,  you 
might  take  time  from  praying  for  them  (I  suppose  you  pray  for 
them;  you  keep  talking  about  that)  long  enough  to  give  three 
cheers  for  those  men  and  women!  [Applause.]  Dr.  Newton 
would  be  counted  an  old  man  in  America;  I  suppose  you  would 
superannuate  him.  I  went  over  the  Kwansei  Gakuin  with  him. 
I  found  him  a  magnificent  teacher  and  administrator,  full  of  zest 
for  the  Japanese  and  for  his  institution.  We  went  to  the  class 
room  at  lunch  hour,  and  we  came  across  some  boys  eating  their 
lunch.  They  were  caught  by  the  President,  and  were  very  much 
embarrassed.  Well,  President  Niewton  tried  very  hard  to  be 
very  sober  and  dignified  while  the  boys  were  looking;  but  when 
he  got  outside  the  doors  he  was  younger  than  the  small  boys 
himself.    That's  the  spirit  of  the  "old  man"  on  the  mission  field. 

But  all  the  while  I  have  been  talking  I've  been  thinking  about 
a  spot  in  Japan  which  means  more  to  Mrs.  Ellis  and  myself  than 
any  other  spot  in  all  Japan.     Down  at  Hiroshima  there  is  an 


THE    SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF   THE    HOUR.  I53 

institution  known  to  Japan — it  should  be  known  to  all  the  South- 
land— called  "The  Hiroshima  Girls'  School."  [Applause.] 
Gentlemen,  I'm  ashamed  of  you  that  you  do  not  more  worthily 
applaud  that  name — "The  Hiroshima  Girls'  School."  [Great 
applause.] 

I'm  going  to  get  confidential  with  you  men.  I  have  been  dis- 
covering, in  the  last  few  days,  that  there  are  a  great  many  big 
men  at  this  Convention,  but  a  bigger  man  than  any  of  you  is 
Miss  Nannie  B.  Gaines,  of  Hiroshima.     [Applause.] 

They  had  a  feast  of  their  leading  citizens  in  Hiroshima  a  little 
while  ago,  and  they  invited  one  foreigner.  The  one  foreigner 
they  invited,  and  the  one  woman,  was  your  Miss  Gaines,  [Ap- 
plause.] 

There  is  a  woman  who  has  achieved  in  that  land  a  loftiness  of 
character,  a  breadth  of  vision,  a  power  of  administration  which 
would  make  her  a  great  woman,  by  all  the  standards  that  deter- 
mine true  greatness,  anywhere  in  the  wide  world,     [Applause.] 

I  have  so  often  thought,  since  knowing  Miss  Gaines,  of  the 
fair  belles  of  your  Southland,  who  shine  in  your  social  circles, 
how  much  more  worthy,  how  much  more  great,  in  all  things 
womanly  and  gracious  and  queenly,  is  this  woman  who  has 
elected  to  give  her  life  to  a  people  of  an  alien  tongue  and  birth ! 
[Applause.]  I  have  heard  young  women  talk  of  social  triumphs ; 
to  me  it  seems  a  diviner  triumph  for  a  woman  to  be  loved  and 
honored  and  followed,  to  repeat  her  life  and  her  character  in  the 
lives  and  characters  of  hundreds  of  young  women  who  are  going 
to  put  their  shaping  hands  on  the  new  nations. 

And  with  Miss  Gaines  at  Hiroshima  are  a  company  of  young 
women  like  unto  her.  I  was  there  after  Miss  Lanius  returned 
from  her  furlough  and  when  Miss  Williams  came  for  the  first 
time.  Well,  when  the  Ambassador  reached  Chattanooga  yester- 
day, he  was  met  out  on  the  hills  by  automobiles  and  many  of 
your  prominent  men.  Miss  Williams  and  Miss  Lanius  were  not 
met  by  automobiles;  but  there  vras  a  great  company  of  the  peo- 
ple at  Hiroshima  gathered  at  the  train — a  line  of  four  or  five 
hundred  young  women,  who  stood  waiting  to  give  an  ardent 
welcome  to  these  young  women  who  came  to  work  among  them. 
Do  you  know  anybody  in  America  who  has  achieved  a  social 
triumph  like  that? 


154  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

Take  the  sister  of  a  gentleman  who  sits  on  the  platform — ^take 
Miss  Margaret  Cook,  the  brilliant  head  of  the  kindergarten  at 
Hiroshima.  [Applause.]  I  cannot  understand  why  you  South- 
ern men  should  ever  let  any  of  those  ladies  get  to  Japan  as 
"Miss"  Somebody.  [Applause.]  I'm  sure  it  is  of  their  own 
choosing.     [Laughter.] 

But  I  mustn't  talk  further  about  Hiroshima;  I  have  to  talk 
for  a  moment  about  Korea.  Let  me  not  take  up  any  of  your  in- 
dividual missionaries  in  Korea,  but  one  of  your  natives  there. 
Do  3'ou  chance  to  know — you  see,  I'm  trying  to  try  to  make  you 
brag  about  your  men  on  the  foreign  field !  Sometimes  there  are 
men  in  the  North  who  think  a  missionary  is  an  evil  to  be  toler- 
ated when  he  comes  home.  I  hope  better  things  of  you — ^but  do 
you  happen  to  know,  you  Southern  men,  that  the  greatest  Korean 
in  the  world,  a  member  of  the  late  Emperor's  Cabinet,  refused 
to  take  the  principal  office  in  the  present  Cabinet  that  he  might 
become  a  teacher  in  your  school  at  Songdo?     [Applause.] 

Do  you  realize  that  the  future  of  Korea,  that  wonderful  na- 
tion, is  to  be  determined  not  by  Marquis  Ito,  not  by  the  civil  and 
military  powers  of  Japan,  but  by  that  handful  of  missionaries, 
by  that  growing — ^pentecostally  growing — company  of  Christians 
who  are  making  a  new  Korea,  with  a  new  life,  a  new  hope? 
[Applause.] 

I  talked  with  your  Mr.  Yun  Chi  Ho.  I  went  there  as  a  news- 
paper man,  to  find  out  all  I  could  about  the  situation,  and  I  had 
to  see  the  leading  natives  as  well  as  the  leading  Japanese  and 
Americans.  Now,  it  is  a  great  thing  to  see  a  patriot,  in  any 
land.  Mr.  Yun  said  to  me,  with  an  intensity  which  I  cannot 
reproduce:  "Mr.  Ellis,  the  only  light  in  the  black  sky  of  Korea 
is  the  Christian  Church."     [Applause.] 

Just  one  word  about  China.  I  leave  to  others  the  details  con- 
cerning your  work,  which  I  would  like  to  dwell  upon  did  I  not 
feel  called  upon  to  give  you  a  somewhat  larger  view  to-night, 
if  I  may.  There  is  a  city  called  Soochow;  and,  by  the  way,  you 
may  go  to  Soochow  from  Shanghai  by  a  railroad  train  finer 
than  any  that  have  been  entering  Chattanooga,  and  you  will 
cross  eight  hundred  bridges  in  going  tlirough  Soochow,  if  you 
like  to  bridge  your  difficulties.  [Applause.]  At  Soochow  you 
will  get  to  talking  about  the  city's  leading  citizens,  and  you 


THE   SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF   THE    HOUR.  I55 

will  hear  mentioned  two  or  three  foreign  names.  I  need  not 
point  out  to  you  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  when  a  man 
attains  an  identity  as  a  leading  native  citizen  he  has  become  a 
power  in  his  community.  I  heard  there  this  story:  During  the 
Boxer  days  there  arose  a  riot  in  Soochow.  A  foreigner's  sedan 
chair  was  going  along  (you  travel  over  that  city  in  chairs),  and 
the  mob  began  to  cry :  "Kill  the  foreigner !  Kill  the  foreigner !" 
They  were  doing  that  very  thing  over  North  China  at  that  time. 
The  mob  grabbed  hold  of  the  chair  and  pulled  out  the  man  who 
was  in  it,  and  then  the  leader  turned  round  and  said,  disgustedly : 
*Tt  isn't  any  foreigner  at  all;  it's  only  old  Dr.  Park."  [Ap- 
plause.] 

There  is  another  man — I  invite  you  to  watch  him  blush  while  I 
speak  [indicating  Dr.  Anderson  on  the  platform].  He  is  trying 
to  hide  behind  men  not  quite  so  good-looking  as  he.  [Laughter.] 
I  found  in  traveling  over  China  a  great  many  institutions  of 
wisdom  and  learning,  and  it  became  my  painful  duty  to  try  to 
put  each  in  its  place:  which  is  best,  which  is  second  best,  and  so 
forth.  I  found  two  claimants  for  first  place  among  the  modern 
institutions  of  learning  in  China.  One  of  those  two  is  the  Soo- 
chow University  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church.  [Ap- 
plause.] And  as  the  President  of  that  college,  Dr.  Anderson  is  a 
great  man.     [Applause.] 

I  want  to  talk  a  little  more  generally,  if  I  may,  to-night,  be- 
cause you  would  think,  if  I  should  talk  about  individual  mis- 
sionaries, that  I  had  been  subsidized  by  your  Board,  or  some- 
thing of  that  sort.  [Laughter.]  Well,  from  what  I  have  heard 
from  some  of  the  brethren,  I  don't  think  you  would  suspect  that 
I  had  been  subsidized.  [Laughter.]  I  have  the  unenviable  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  arch-critic  of  foreign  missions.  I  have  writ- 
ten and  printed  more  criticisms  of  foreign  missions  during  the 
past  two  years  than  any  other  man  alive.  I  went  out  as  a  news- 
paper man  to  find  out  what  was  what  in  foreign  missions.  I 
don't  advise  my  brethren  of  the  quill  [aside  to  the  press  repre- 
sentatives] to  take  the  same  assignment. 

It  means,  for  example,  that  during  the  year  I  circumnavigated 
the  globe.  I  traveled  more  than  35,000  miles.  I  traveled  in  steam- 
ships, in  launches,  in  house  boats,  in  canoes,  in  junks,  in  sampans; 
I  traveled  in  innumerable  wheeled  vehicles,   carriages   without 


156  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

number,  in  jinrikishas  by  the  hundreds.  (The  jinrikisha,  you 
know,  even  if  they  don't  have  it  in  Chattanooga,  is  an  enlarged 
baby  carriage,  pulled  by  a  man.  The  word  "jinrikisha"  means 
"man-pulled  car" — the  original  "Pullman  car.")  [Laughter.] 
I  traveled  in  jinrikishas,  in  automobiles,  in  ehkas,  in  tongas,  in 
droskies,  in  bashes,  in  wheelbarrows,  in  sedan  chairs.  I  traveled 
on  elephants,  on  camels,  on  buffaloes,  on  donkeys,  on  horses,  and 
afoot.  [Laughter.]  I  was  feasted  in  Japan  and  mobbed  in 
China.  [Laughter.]  I  slept  on  the  floor  in  Japan,  in  a  bake 
oven  in  Korea,  and  out  under  the  stars  in  India.  [Laughter.] 
I  shivered  on  203-Metre  Hill  and  suffered  under  150  degrees 
of  temperature  in  India;  I  bit  the  dust  in  North  China — and  I 
was  bitten  by  other  things  all  over  the  Orient.  [Laughter.]  I 
talked  with  more  than  a  thousand  missionaries  on  their  fields. 
I  talked  with  statesmen  and  diplomats — excuse  me — yes,  I  talked 
with  statesmen  and  diplomats,  with  native  officials,  with  foreign 
travelers,  foreign  merchants,  foreign  editors. 

I  endeavored  to  find  out  what  is  what  in  this  old  world  of 
ours;  and,  as  a  scout  of  civilization,  I  come  back  to  you  to-night 
saying,  in  the  words  of  Samuel  Johnson — words  of  which  we 
are  trying  to  make  slang  in  these  days — ^that  "there's  something 
doing"  in  the  world. 

There  is  something  doing  in  the  world — something  signifi- 
cant, something  portentous,  something  ominous!  There  is  a 
surge,  a  swell,  a  billowing,  a  ferment,  a  >ery  tidal  wave  of 
human  feeling  all  around  the  world  to-day.  Define  it  ?  I  scarce- 
ly know  how.  You  may  call  it  a  wave  of  democracy,  a  wave  of 
socialism,  a  reassertion  of  the  old,  old  rights  of  individual  lib- 
erty; you  may  call  it  the  spirit  of  the  times;  you  may,  more 
searchingly  and  more  truly,  call  it  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God ! 
[Applause.]  I  can  only  say  to  you  that,  wherever  you  go  in  this 
old  earth,  even  the  most  superficial  and  casual  observer  will  find 
that  there's  something  doing. 

You  are  something  doing!  Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  of  the 
significance  of  the  phenomenon  of  this  great  laymen's  gathering? 
This  is  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  the  Southland.  What 
means  this  arising  of  strong  men?  Do  you  think  that  God  calls 
his  forces  together  for  the  fun  of  gathering  them  together?  Do 
you  think  it  means  nothing  that  you  have  come  from  the  east 


THE   SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF   THE    HOUR.  I57 

and  the  west  and  the  north  and  the  south  to  sit  down  and  take 
counsel  concerning  the  things  of  the  ends  of  the  earth?  No! 
No! 

What  is  God  doing  here  with  these  splendid  forces  and  equip- 
ment? What  he  is  doing  here  has  intimately  to  do  with  what 
is  doing  over  yonder.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  divine  concat- 
enation of  events.  God's  bells  all  chime  in  tune.  He  is  doing 
something  here ;  he  is  doing  the  same  thing  at  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  For  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth.     [Applause.] 

Consider  with  me  for  a  moment  what  is  known  to  all  of  you, 
concerning  our  land  of  America.  We  have  been  having  during 
the  past  three  years  a  revival — a  civic,  social,  ethical,  commer- 
cial, political  revival — and  the  mourners'  benches  are  full. 
[Laughter.] 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  what  is  doing  in  America 
to-day,  which  I  need  not  dwell  upon,  is  one  with  what  is  doing 
in  Great  Britain  also?  You  heard  from  the  distinguished  Am- 
bassador, whose  presence  honored  you  last  night,  and  whose 
reception  honored  both  him  and  you,  that  there  is  not  only  in 
Great  Britain,  although  he  dwelt  upon  that,  but  that  there  is 
throughout  the  Far  East  a  strange,  critical  movement  in  human 
society  to-day. 

Well,  over  in  Great  Britain  they  call  it  liberalism,  laborism,  or 
socialism — ^they  scarcely  know  what  to  call  it,  but  they  know 
this:  to-day  Great  Britain  is  in  a  social  and  political  crisis  such 
as  she  has  not  known  for  a  generation. 

There  is  "something  doing"  in  Great  Britain;  there  is  also 
"something  doing"  in  France.  You  read,  a  few  months  ago,  of 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State?  I  do  not  think  you  con- 
sidered it  an  isolated  thing,  because  you  read  behind  the  mere 
news  of  the  day,  and  perceived  that  the  event  was  only  a  symp- 
tom of  a  deep-running  tide  in  the  national  life  of  France.  There 
is  "something  doing"  to-day  in  France. 

Even  Spain,  as  she  sits  in  the  ashes  of  her  departed  fame  and 
glory  and  present  shame,  finds  coursing  through  her  veins  a  new 
purpose,  a  new  Hfe.  There  is  "something  doing"  in  Spain.  We 
have  all  heard  echoing  from  the  guns  at  Casablanca  that  there's 
"something  doing"  in  Morocco.    The  tidings  of  the  foul  murder 


158  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

of  the  crown  prince  and  king  of  Portugal  told  you  and  me  that 
there's  "something  doing"  in  Portugal  to-day. 

We  read  the  dispatches  from  the  brunette  republic  to  the 
south,  and  we  know  that  there's  "something  doing"  in  Haiti  at 
this  time. 

Did  you  observe  the  paragraph  in  the  newspapers  a  few  weeks 
ago  to  the  effect  that  Italian  troops  had  been  posted  in  front  of 
the  Vatican?  Why?  Was  the  pope  in  danger?  I  do  not  know. 
They  did  not  know.  They  simply  knew  this:  that  Italy  to-day 
is  being  shaken  from  top  to  bottom  by  this  new  "something" 
that  is  "doing"  in  the  whole  wide  world. 

I  received  a  summons  about  a  month  ago  to  go  to  Turkey  as 
a  newspaper  correspondent,  that  I  may  be  in  at  the  death  of 
the  Sick  Man  of  Europe,  because  his  cup  of  iniquity  is  at  last 
full.  This  message  came  by  the  underground  route,  that  it  is 
nearly  all  over  with  Turkey.  There's  "something  doing"  there! 
There  also  continues  to  be  "something  doing"  in  Macedonia. 
Russia,  as  she  raises  her  bruised,  bewildered,  and  befuddled 
head  amid  the  sound  of  bursting  bombs,  the  wild  cries  of  the 
smitten  and  persecuted,  and  the  dull  roar  of  red  revolution, 
knows  that  there's  "something  doing"  in  Russia  to-day. 

Go  down  to  Egypt,  where  the  West  touches  the  East.  I  found 
that  the  week  before  I  reached  Cairo  Lord  Cromer  had  paraded 
through  the  streets  of  that  ancient  city  every  available  man 
and  gun  of  his  British  Majesty's  forces,  in  order  to  suppress 
and  impress  the  revolutionary  Cairenes.  Egj^pt,  the  land  of  the 
dead,  is  becoming  a  nation  of  a  living  crisis.  As  the  young 
Egyptian  sits  in  the  sidewalk  cafes  of  Cairo,  with  his  red  fez 
cap  tilted  rakishly  to  one  side,  and  his  patent  leather  shoes 
crossed  and  stuck  up  in  the  air,  twirling  a  swagger  stick  in  one 
hand  and  sipping  the  Egyptian  coffee,  which  is  two-thirds 
grounds  and  one-sixteenth  dust,  he  is  talking  of  revolution,  re- 
bellion :  life  for  the  land  of  the  dead. 

Go  down  the  Red  Sea  until  you  come  to  India.  I  was  there 
about  the  anniversary  of  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  It  is  not  a  re- 
flection upon  the  distinguished  Americanized  guest  who  has  so 
lately  honored  this  city  to  say  that  there  is  certainly  something 
doing  in  India  because  the  British  are  waking  up  to  it.  [Laugh- 
ter.]    I  was  there,  I  say,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Mutiny;  and 


THE   SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF   THE   HOUR.  I59 

I  found  the  timid  among  the  British  folk  scared  lest  India  again 
should  run  red  with  the  blood  of  the  white  man.  The  last  copy 
of  The  Pioneer  Mail  from  India,  which  I  have  in  my  room  at 
the  hotel  at  this  moment,  is  full  of  dispatches  concerning  the 
riots  in  Tinnevelli,  in  Southern  India.  Riots  in  Tahore  on  the 
north,  riots  in  Calcutta  on  the  east,  riots  in  Bombay  on  the  west 
— ^all  India  has  been  swept  with  the  fear  of  sedition,  revolution, 
and  rebellion.  I  do  not  think  there  will  be  another  mutiny,  for 
two  or  three  reasons:  There  is  not  a  cannon  in  the  hands  of  the 
natives,  and  there  is  not  a  native  who  has  access  to  any  arsenal 
in  India.  I  do  not  believe  another  mutiny  could  succeed.  But 
I  do  believe  that  India  to-day  is  on  the  verge  of  a  graver  crisis 
than  that  which  startled  the  world  in  1857. 

And  I  had  better  say  now,  lest  time  should  fail  me  later,  that 
the  solution  of  India's  troubles  is  not  the  solution  that  the  young 
Indians  offer.  India  says:  "If  the  British  will  move  out,  India's 
day  of  glory  will  come  in."  The  Swadeshi  Movement  has  for  its 
watchword:  "India  for  the  Indian."  I  am  bound  to  say  that, 
if  the  British  should  move  out  of  India  to-day,  the  situation  to- 
morrow would  be  vastly  worse  than  it  was  yesterday. 

India's  need,  and  the  need  of  the  nations,  goes  down,  down, 
down  to  the  deep,  deep,  deep  springs  of  human  nature.  The  only 
sufficient  remedy  lies  in  a  force  that  will  be  applied  to  the  funda- 
mental springs  of  human  nature,  which  are  religious.  [Ap- 
plause.] India  wants  self-government;  India  needs  Christ. 
[Applause.] 

Joseph  Cook,  a  short  time  before  he  died,  said:  "The  nine- 
teenth- century  has  made  the  world  one  neighborhood ;  the  twen- 
tieth century  must  make  it  one  brotherhood."  [Applause.]  In- 
dia's need,  and  the  need  of  the  world,  is  for  the  spirit  of  broth- 
erhood, which  it  can  only  learn  from  that  Best  Brother  of  man- 
kind, the  Nazarene.     [Applause.] 

But  Joseph  Cook  should  have  gone  a  little  farther  and  said 
this :  "The  world  is  a  neighborhood ;  the  world  should  be  a  broth- 
erhood. A  neighborhood  without  brotherhood  is  not  a  thing  to 
be  coveted,  but  to  be  feared."  When,  in  point  of  fact,  the  Orient 
was  months  removed  from  us,  we  did  not  care  that  the  Orient 
was  immoral,  that  it  was  rotten,  that  it  was  dirty,  that  it  was 
untruthful,  that  it  was  all  the  cruelty  and  awfulness  that  heathen- 


l6o  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

dom  means.  Then  those  conditions  did  not  bother  us.  But  to- 
day we  are  next-door  neighbors  to  it  all.  And  I  say  to  you,  with 
all  the  intensity  of  my  being,  that,  if  we  do  not  make  the  world 
neighborhood  a  brotherhood,  God  help  our  children!  [Ap- 
plause.] On  the  basis  of  sheer  self-interest,  we  are  bound  to 
be  interested  in  the  whole  wide  world;  and  that  is  the  genius 
of  this  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement:  it  is  interested  in  the 
entire  big  world,     [Applause.] 

Go  with  me  from  India  to  the  Philippines.  Sailing  along  the 
beautiful  islands  of  the  Philippines,  at  last  you  come  to  Manila. 
You  will  experience  the  thrill  which  every  wanderer  in  foreign 
lands  knows  when  once  more  he  comes  beneath  the  folds  of  his 
own  flag.  [Applause.]  But  you  will  have  the  added  thrill  of 
rejoicing  that  America  has  done  as  she  has  done  in  the  Philip- 
pines. You  will  see  that  when  Mr.  Dewey  planted  the  Ameri- 
can flag  there  he  was  merely  the  unwitting  agent  of  the  great 
God  who  has  universal  and  far-reaching  purposes  to  fulfill.  And 
you  will  see  that  in  the  Philippines  the  American  men  have  ac- 
complished more  in  ten  years  than  Great  Britain  and  the  East 
India  Company  have  done  in  one  hundred  years  in  India.  [Ap- 
plause.] If  I  were  talking  on  a  single  country,  I  should  be 
happy  to  tell  you  how  the  gospel  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
our  flag  in  making  over  these  wonderful,  wonderful  Philippine 
Islands. 

But  go  with  me  to  China — and  now  I  have  need  of  all  my 
courage  and  self-confidence,  for  what  can  I  say  to  you  about 
China?  You  sit  here  in  Chattanooga,  the  gateway  to  the  South, 
the  center  of  the  world  (some  Chattanoogans  think!)  [Ap- 
plause] ;  and  while  I  rejoice  in  our  American  progress  and  pride, 
this  criticism  is  to  be  made  of  us :  we  do  not  seem  to  realize  that 

"There's  a  world  outside  the  one  you  know." 

The  center  of  the  world's  news  to-day,  my  fellow-workers  of 
the  press,  is  not  London  or  Berlin  or  Paris  or  Washington;  the 
center  of  the  world's  news  to-day  is  China.  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte, who  was  a  seer,  said  once:  "There  sleeps  China.  God 
help  us  if  ever  she  awake !  Let  her  sleep !"  I  come  to  you  well 
aware  that  you  cannot  understand  what  I  mean ;  and  I  say  to  you 
that  this  great  empire  of  four  hundred  million  pe(^le,  about 


THE   SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF    THE    HOUR.  l6l 

whose  awakening  you  have  been  hearing  for  decades — China  to- 
day is  awake! 

When  China  was  asleep,  five  years  ago,  it  was  as  though  China 
were  a  great  jellyfish:  you  put  your  thumb  in  pressure  on  one 
side  of  the  jellyfish  and  the  indentation  remained  as  long  as  the 
thumb  was  there,  and  the  rest  of  the  jellyfish  did  not  feel  it. 
To-day  China  is  a  mass  of  living  tissue.  Touch  it  never  so 
slightly  on  one  side,  and  the  thrill  will  be  felt  to  the  farther- 
niost  ends  of  the  empire.  Let  Japan  misbehave  in  Manchuria, 
and  she  is  boycotted  in  Canton.  Five  years  ago  China  was  a 
heterogeneous  congeries  of  unrelated  individualisms ;  to-day  she 
is  a  homogeneous  entity:  she  is  one  nation,  with  one  purpose. 
Talk  with  the  eminent  statesman  in  Peking,  talk  with  the  coolie 
along  the  roadside,  and  they  all  say  the  same  thing:  China  is 
going  the  one  way;  China  is  about  to  learn  the  wisdom  and  the 
weapons  of  the  West.  There  is  one  China  to-day.  She  has 
two  hundred  newspapers,  great  institutions  of  learning;  students 
throng  the  doors  of  your  Soochow  University,  and  there  is  not 
room  for  them,  because  you  haven't  been  ready  for  the  emer- 
gency. 

But  listen !  Listen !  I  am  not  an  alarmist,  but  by  the  same 
deep,  passionate,  patriotic  determination  that  China  is  resolved 
to  learn  and  possess  all  that  the  West  can  teach  and  give  her — 
by  that  same  spirit  she  has  determined  to  throw  out  the  West- 
erner! And  she  ought  to  do  it.  She  is  right,  by  all  human  con- 
sideration. If  I  had  been  in  China  in  1900,  I  would  probably 
have  been  a  Boxer.  If  I  were  there  to-day,  I  would  probably 
be  an  anti-foreign  revolutionist.  When  I  consider  what  I  have 
seen  with  my  own  eyes,  not  even  taking  into  account  the  history 
of  the  outrages  perpetrated  by  the  nations,  I  do  not  wonder  that 
China  hates  us  with  a  perfect  hatred. 

The  gpreatest  task  before  civilization  to-day — I  do  not  limit  it 
to  Christendom — the  greatest  task  before  civilization  to-day  is 
the  task  of  putting  a  new  mind  into  awakened  China.  And  I 
do  not  know  how  she's  going  to  get  that  new  mind  unless  she 
gets  "the  mind  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."     [Applause.] 

I  cannot  come  to  you  and  say  that  China  wants  the  gospel; 
I  do  not  believe  she  does.  I  cannot  say  that  the  world  wants  the 
gospel.  I  did  not  find  that  the  situation  in  the  world  to-day  is 
II 


l62  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

represented  by  the  Macedonian  man  crying:  "Come  over  and 
help  us."  I  found  the  Macedonian  man  only  in  Korea  and  the 
Philippines;  I  did  not  find  him  anywhere  else.  Heathendom 
does  not  want  Christianity,  because  it  is  heathendom.  The  situ- 
ation is  perhaps  represented  by  what  I  found  in  the  famine  field 
of  China.  I  saw  hundreds  and  thousands  of  starving  men  and 
women  and  children  there,  in  the  villages  and  in  the  famine 
camps,  where  they  were  living  on  the  cold,  bare  ground,  the 
fortunate  ones  being  sheltered  by  a  little  bit  of  straw  matting. 
One  day  I  went  out  with  a  missionary  to  give  medical  aid  to 
some  of  the  Chinese  in  these  terrible  straits.  What  do  you  sup- 
pose was  the  complaint  we  heard  oftenest?  They  came  to  us 
saying,  these  men  and  women  who  were  starving  (and  you  need 
not  take  their  word  for  the  fact  that  they  are  starving;  you  can- 
not take  a  heathen's  word  about  anything;  but  the  unmistakable 
pallor  of  starvation  on  their  face  could  not  be  gainsaid)  :  "Even 
when  we  get  to  the  relief  station,  and  secure  a  portion  of  rice, 
we  haven't  any  appetite  for  it.  Can  you  give  us  something  for 
our  appetite?"  Starving!  yet  saying,  "Give  us  something  for 
our  appetite !"  They  did  not  know  that  they  had  reached  the 
last  stage  of  starvation  and  were  dying.  Ladies  and  gentlemen, 
that  is  the  heathen  world:  it  has  no  appetite  for  the  bread  of 
life,  but  it  needs  it  supremely.     [Applause.] 

It  would  not  be  just  to  you  if  I  took  more  time  to  dwell  on 
the  fascinating  land  of  Korea,  when  Bishop  Candler  is  to  follow 
me.  I  wish  I  had  an  hour  for  Korea;  I  would  tell  you,  ladies, 
about  the  hats  worn  by  the  women  of  North  Korea.  They  are 
bigger  than  the  "Merry  "VJ/idow"  hats.  [Laughter.]  Most  of 
the  Orient,  you  know,  is  so  wise  that  its  women  do  not  wear 
hats.  I  wish  we  were  as  wise  as  they.  But  up  in  North  Korea, 
in  Pyeng  Yang,  the  women  wear  bushel  baskets  over  their  heads 
which  come  down  over  the  shoulders.  When  a  man  is  around, 
they  drop  the  hats  down  over  their  faces,  and  so  can  see  just  at 
their  feet,  "one  step  at  a  time."  When  they  go  to  church,  the 
door  is  too  small  to  let  in  the  hats.  I  wish  we  had  smaller  doors 
in  our  churches.     [Laughter.] 

You  do  not  catch  my  meaning.  [Laughter.]  I  would  not  be 
so  ungallant  as  to  suggest  what  you  think  I  have  said ;  I  might 
have  to  answer  to  Mrs.  Ellis  for  unadvised  remarks  like  that. 


THE   SUPREME   OPPORTUNITY   OF   THE    HOUR.  163 

[Laughter.]  I  mean  this:  The  Korean  Church  has  a  smaller 
door,  spiritually  speaking,  than  any  other  Church  in  Christen- 
dom, for  this  reason:  there  are  so  many  people  thronging  into 
the  Church  there  that  the  missionaries  purposely  make  it  difficult 
to  get  into  the  Church.  Let  me  tell  you,  if  I  may  take  a  minute 
for  a  story,  this  little  occurrence:  I  went  out  itinerating  in 
Korea,  and  we  came  to  the  village  where  we  were  expected,  and 
the  missionary  found  twenty-five  candidates  for  baptism  waiting 
for  us  the  next  morning.  I  thought  twenty-five  candidates  didn't 
amount  to  much,  and  early  in  the  morning,  before  breakfast,  I 
toc4c  my  gun  and  went  out  to  shoot  a  goose — and  the  goose  is  still 
there ;  but  I  shot  at  him.  I  shot  at  a  million  of  them,  more  or 
less,  and  didn't  get  one.  But  I  came  back  and  found  the  mis- 
sionary looking  at  his  watch.  He  said:  "We  must  get  busy. 
Here  are  twenty-five  men  to  be  examined,  and  we  have  to  go 
over  to  the  other  village  to-day."  After  a  hurried  breakfast,  we 
sat  down  in  the  little  room,  about  eight  feet  long,  six  feet  wide, 
and  six  feet  high  at  the  ridgepole.  There  sat  the  missionary 
on  the  floor;  alongside  him  his  helper;  then  the  three  leaders  of 
the  local  Church;  then  the  candidate;  then  the  newspaper  man. 
(There  were  also  about  a  million  others,  such  as  do  not  move  in 
good  Chattanooga  society.)  [Laughter.]  Then  he  began  the 
examination.  Why,  do  you  know,  in  Korea  they  make  some  of 
the  converts  learn  to  read  in  order  to  be  able  to  read  the  Bible, 
and  so  fit  themselves  to  pass  this  examination?  I  said  to  the 
missionary  (for  I  had  him  translate  every  question  to  me)  : 
"Why,  Mr.  Hall,  that  isn't  right.  It  is  not  fair  to  ask  those 
questions.  I  could  not  pass  that  examination.  I  wouldn't  try  to 
join  your  old  Church ;  you  wouldn't  let  me  in,"  It  is  harder  to 
get  into  the  Church  in  Korea  than  it  is  to  get  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven. 

The  missionary  that  day  turned  down  some  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  community.  Which  of  you  pastors  would  dare  to  do  that  ? 
But  he  did  it.  Then  along  came  an  old  woman,  with  very  much 
my  state  of  mind :  she  couldn't  answer  the  questions.  But  she  was 
different  from  me  in  this  respect:  she  said  what  I'll  never  say: 
"I'm  only  a  stupid  old  thing.  I  can't  answer  the  questions, 
but,"  she  went  on  to  say,  "I  do  love  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  I  want 
to  belong  to  his  Church."    That  old  woman  for  nine  years  had 


164  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

been  a  believer  and  had  lived  a  godly  life,  as  the  leaders  testified. 
That  missionary  redeemed  himself  in  my  eyes  by  having  the 
grace  to  let  her  in. 

In  Korea  there  are  better  Christians  than — I  won't  say  Chat- 
tanooga— in  Philadelphia.  [Laughter.]  They  read  the  Bible 
more,  they  pray  more,  they  study  more,  they  have  more  people 
at  the  Bible  classes  in  one  region  in  Korea  than  you  have  people 
at  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Convention  in  Chattanooga.  I  was 
going  along  the  highway  in  that  village  which  I  have  mentioned, 
and  I  saw  a  man  coming  along  with  two  half-lengths  of  tele- 
graph pole  on  his  back.  As  he  came  up  to  me  his  face  began 
to  crack  and  break  into  smiles  as  he  saw  me.  I  knew  what  was 
coming.  When  he  came  up  to  me  and  stopped  (for  the  vil- 
lagers regarded  me  as  a  kind  of  missionary-in-law),  he  shifted 
his  burden  to  one  side  and  grabbed  me  by  the  arm.  They  don't 
shake  hands  in  Korea ;  they  just  grab  you  anywhere  and  squeeze. 
He  laid  hands  on  me  and  bade  me  be  at  peace,  and  I  bade  him 
be  at  peace.  And  he  told  me  how  joyous  it  was  to  be  a  disciple 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  young  coolie  in  Korea  was 
gladder  to  see  me  than  any  man  in  all  America,  because  I  was 
a  humble  disciple  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  Jesus  Christ.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

I  have  said  enough  to  indicate  that  there  is  "something  doing" 
in  Korea;  there  is  also  "something  doing"  in  Japan.  I  could  tell 
you  that  you  are  not  going  to  solve  Japan's  problems  merely  by 
teaching  it  the  Western  ways.  There  are  men  who  say  that  our 
civilization  is  good  enough  for  them.  Teach  them  to  study  as 
we  study;  teach  them  to  eat  as  we  eat;  teach  them  our  manners 
and  customs;  teach  them  to  dress  as  we  dress;  and  still  they  re- 
main heathen,  with  their  vital  needs  unmet.  Japan's  ethics  and 
morality,  which  she  teaches  in  the  schools,  need  at  their  base,  a 
vital,  religious  power.  There's  "something  doing"  in  Japan. 
There's  "something  doing"  all  around  the  world. 

That  "something"  may  perhaps  be  best  expressed,  as  I  close, 
by  a  story.  While  in  India  I  had  gone  to  see  the  Taj  IMahal,  at 
Agra.  The  Taj  is  a  great  mausoleum  of  white  marble,  built  in 
memory  of  his  wife  by  Shah  Jehan.  It  is  the  finest  piece  of 
architecture  in  the  world.  I  have  seen  most  of  the  world's  great 
sights — and  most  of  them  disappoint  you — but  the  Taj  Mahal 


THE   SUPREME  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE   HOUR.  165 

satisfies  completely.  It  is  a  feast  for  the  soul  that  loves  beauty. 
Whether  you  see  it  shimmering  in  the  glistening  noonday  sun 
of  India  or  bathed  in  the  opalescent  glow  of  eventide,  the  Taj 
is  a  dream  of  beauty.  I  walked  about  in  its  courts;  I  went 
through  its  corridors,  where  the  light  infiltrates  through  its  ala- 
baster screens;  and  then  I  went  into  that  great  pillared  dome, 
where,  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl  and  colored  stones,  is  in- 
scribed the  whole  Koran.  While  I  listened  the  guides  evoked 
from  the  dome  the  echo  which  lives  there  and  which  speaks  for 
fifteen  seconds.  I  tested  it  by  my  watch,  and  found  it  so.  Then, 
to  my  good  fortune,  the  guides  and  the  tourists  all  left;  and, 
with  my  wife  and  two  friends,  I  was  alone  in  the  marble  ro- 
tunda. And  I  had  an  inspiration.  I  stepped  over  to  one  of  the 
pillars  and,  raising  my  voice  to  the  center  of  that  great  dome, 
as  clearly  and  distinctly  as  I  could  I  enunciated  the  Arabic  name 
of  God.  For  twenty  seconds  by  this  watch  that  name  rose  and 
swelled  and  circled  and  recircled  and  echoed  and  reechoed  and 
reverberated  and  volumed,  until  the  whole  vast  dome  was  filled 
with  the  name  of  God. 

I  come  back  to  you  to  say  that  to-day,  to  whosoever  has  ears 
to  hear,  the  world  is  echoing  round  with  the  name  that  is  above 
every  name. 

God's  great  legions,  visible  and  invisible — the  legions  of  him 
whose  stately  steppings  among  the  nations  make  human  history 
— are  swinging  into  line.    Shall  we,  too,  "fall  in?" 

"He  hath  sounded  forth  the  trumpet  that  shall  never  call  retreat; 
He  is  sifting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  his  judgment  seat, 
O  be  swift,  my  soul,  to  answer  him;  be  jubilant,  my  feet! 
Our  God  is  marching  on!" 
[Great  applause.] 


XII. 
CHINA:    THE  GIBRALTAR  OF  MISSIONS. 


As  we  look  back  over  the  conflicts  of  the  nations  and  the  days  gone  by, 
we  can  everywhere  see  His  hand  guiding ;  and  out  of  every  conflict  He  has 
brought  the  sons  of  men  into  a  brighter  day,  into  a  higher  Hfe.  And  He 
is  still  guiding.  Several  things  indicate  this.  For  instance,  for  this  great 
work  of  to-day  God  needs  a  larger  force  than  ever  before.  Many  of  us 
have  been  thrilled  at  the  sight  of  St.  Paul  crossing,  almost  single-handed, 
over  from  Troas  to  Philippi,  passing  from  Asia  to  Europe,  in  the  name  of 
God,  armed  only  by  the  spirit  and  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to 
conquer  the  Roman  Empire  that  then  dominated  the  world.  But  Paul 
was  going  against  a  power  that  had  won  its  place  by  the  sword,  that  was 
dominating  the  world  through  the  sword;  a  power  that  held  its  place  in 
the  world  just  so  long  as  the  hand  that  wielded  the  sword  was  strong. 
That  was  a  comparatively  easy  conquest.  But  the  world  is  being  marshaled 
to-day  against  a  nation  whose  power  is  not  the  sword,  and  never  has  been ; 
and  God  needs  a  larger  force,  a  stronger  battle  line,  and  more  courageous 
leaders.  This  is  clearly  indicated  to-day.  Why  is  it  that  just  as  we  are 
brought  face  to  face  with  this  great  people  of  the  East  we  have  our  great 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  here  in  America?  Why  are  you  here  to- 
day? It  is  simply  because  the  Church  of  God  is  facing  a  problem  that  it 
never  faced  before,  and  God  is  gathering  his  armies  and  assembling  his 
servants  that  they  may  take  the  land  in  his  name.  He  wants  the  strongest 
and  the  best  it  is  possible  to  get. 
(i68) 


XII. 


CHINA:  THE  GIBRALTAR  OF  MISSIONS. 


DR.  D.  L.  ANDERSON,  SOOCHOW,  CHINA. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
In  our  consideration  of  China  this  morn- 
ing we  must  think  first  of  how  near  China 
is  to  us  to-day.  Improved  methods  of 
travel  have  brought  China  so  close  to 
America  that  the  good  and  the  bad  can 
easily  pass  from  one  country  to  the  other, 
and  has  thus  made  China  our  very  near 
neighbor.  Only  a  few  years  ago  we 
'looked  upon  China  as  at  the  "ends  of  the 
earth;"  now  there  are  no  "ends  of  the 
earth,"  and  we  in  America  to-day  are 
standing  face  to  face  with  the  four  hundred  millions  of  China. 

Our  own  people  on  the  Pacific  Coast  complain  a  great  deal  of 
the  evil  coming  from  China  into  America,  I  can  testify  that  a 
very  great  deal  of  evil  goes  from  America  into  China.  Very 
much  of  our  vice,  our  immorality,  our  lowest  forms  of  debauchery 
goes  over  in  nearly  every  steamer  that  crosses  the  Pacific;  and 
keeping  this  in  mind,  we  see  that  the  China  question  is  one  that 
concerns  all  of  our  people.  It  is  not  simply  an  obligation  of  the 
Church  to  carry  the  gospel  unto  all  men  everywhere,  but  this  is 
a  question  that  concerns  every  man  in  America.  We  are  face  to 
face  with  these  people.  We  must  necessarily  have  intercourse  with 
them.  It  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance  what  their  character  will 
be,  for  that  must  affect  us.  And  so  as  we  stand  before  them  to- 
day, with  the  gospel  in  our  hands,  it  is  necessary  that  We  should 
carry  it  to  them,  not  simply  that  China  might  be  saved,  but  that 
we  ourselves  might  be  saved  and  our  own  land  and  her  institu- 
tions be  preserved,    [Applause.] 

The  great  problem  of  the  East,  which  is  the  problem  of  our 
twentieth  century,  must  necessarily  be  solved  in  China.  The  con- 
flict of  the  nations  which  has,  in  a  sense,  been  a  conflict  between 

(169) 


I/O  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

good  and  evil,  and  so  has  resulted  in  the  betterment  of  mankind, 
has  ever  been  moving  westward  seeking  a  wider  field.  In  all  this 
the  hand  of  God  can  be  clearly  seen,  and  he  has  so  ruled  that  out 
of  every  conflict  men  have  come  into  a  brighter  day  and  to  the 
realization  of  a  higher  life.  To-day  the  people  of  the  West,  hav- 
ing for  nineteen  centuries  been  under  the  training  of  the  gospel 
that  has  brought  to  them  unlimited  development  along  all  lines, 
holding  clearer  ideas  of  God  and  of  his  creation,  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  purpose  of  his  coming  and  the  nature  of  his  kingdom, 
possessing  also  a  wealth  of  achievement  in  intellectual  lines  such 
as  the  world  has  never  known  before,  having  a  monetary  wealth 
undreamed  of  in  any  past  age  and  a  vast  military  power  that  is 
a  burden  even  to  the  marvelous  wealth  of  this  present  century,  are 
now  standing  once  again  face  to  face  with  the  people  of  the  East ; 
and  in  the  foremost  line  on  the  one  side  stands  China,  and  in  the 
foremost  line  on  the  other  stands  our  own  land^  America.  We 
can  easily  see  that  the  advantage  is  with  the  West;  and  yet  our 
advantages  are  no  greater  than  are  necessary  for  the  great  task 
we  have  to  perform.  That  task  is  twofold :  first,  to  propagate  the 
truth  of  every  sort  that  God  has  revealed  to  us  for  the  benefit  of 
the  world,  especially  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  then 
also  to  receive  from  the  East,  from  China,  the  truths  that  have 
dominated  there  so  long  and  have  preserved  her  life  until  the 
present  time ;  and  we  must  so  give  and  so  take  that  both  the  East 
and  the  West  may  be  only  benefited,  that  both  may  be  brought  into 
the  larger  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

It  will  be  utterly  impossible  this  morning  to  discuss  China's  sys- 
tem; enough  to  say  that  in  that  system  we  find  much  of  God's 
eternal  truth,  a  very  great  deal  of  it.  Historians  tell  us  how  the 
old  nations  of  the  past  grew  up,  how  they  lived,  how  they  died, 
and  how,  dying,  left  a  rich  legacy  of  truth  to  the  succeeding  ages. 
But  China,  whose  history  dates  back  to  the  earliest  period,  stands 
alive  to-day,  and  is  ready  to  hand  out  to  the  world  those  great 
truths  that  have  preserved  her,  and  that  she  has  brought  down 
from  the  dim  ages  of  the  past.  I  know  we  have  a  way  of  declaring 
that  China  is  alive  to-day  simply  because  no  one  has  gone  there  to 
destroy  her ;  and  some  even  say  that  China  is  already  dead,  simply 
a  putrid  corpse,  lying  out  there  simply  because  no  one  has  gone 
to  bury  her.  But  look  into  her  history ;  that  tells  another  story. 
Barbarous  peoples,  such  as  those  who  went  down  from  the  North 


china:  the  GIBRALTAR  OF  MISSIONS.  I7I 

and  destroyed  the  Roman  Empire,  have  time  and  again  come  down 
from  the  North  upon  the  Chinese  Empire — only  they  did  not  break 
it  up.  Chinese  civiHzation  was  strong  enough  in  every  instance 
to  conquer  her  conquerors  and  to  preserve  herself.  And  so,  in- 
stead of  being  dead,  she  is  very  much  alive ;  not  effete,  not  power- 
less, but  persistent,  strong,  energetic  as  ever  in  her  history. 

We  do  not  like  to  acknowledge  it,  probably,  and  yet  in  some 
things  her  civilization  has  been  developed  to  a  higher  point  than 
our  own ;  and  in  some  things  her  ideals  are  nearer  to  those  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  than  ours.  Take,  for  instance,  the  fact  that  we 
somehow  still  hold  to  the  old  idea  that  might  is  right ;  and  we  be- 
lieve that  in  some  way  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  to 
be  advanced  in  this  world  through  the  sword.  Indeed,  many  in 
the  Church,  as  they  look  upon  our  magnificent  fleet  now  going 
out  to  the  East,  imagine  that  these  gunboats  will  be  influential  in 
establishing  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  in  glorify- 
ing his  name.  Many  among  us  still  imagine  that  this  can  be  done 
by  physical  force.  We  forget  that  that  is  not  our  Lord's  idea. 
We  forget  that,  when  Peter  drew  that  first  sword  for  the  honor 
of  the  Lord,  the  reproof  came  instant  and  sharp :  "Put  it  up ;  they 
that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword."  A  system  estab- 
lished by  the  sword  can  perish  by  it.  The  Son  of  God  was  estab- 
lishing a  kingdom  that  should  never  be  moved,  and  the  sword  had 
no  place  in  that  kingdom.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  this,  though 
we  sometimes  sing,  as  we  did  in  our  Easter  services  in  all  of  our 
larger  cities  the  other  day,  saying : 

"Thou  art  sublime ! 
Far  more  awful  in  thy  weakness. 
More  than  kingly  in  thy  meekness. 
Thou  Son  of  God." 

Yet  while  the  song  is  still  upon  our  lips,  we  fail  to  realize  its 
true  meaning.  We  are  still  dominated  by  the  thought  of  our  feudal 
age. 

Now,  if  you  will  take  China,  her  ideas  in  this  matter  are  nearer 
to  those  of  the  Son  of  God  than  ours.  She  has  always  abhorred 
physical  force,  and  it  has  been  her  rule  for  ages  past  in  dealing 
with  men  to  appeal  to  their  intellectual  and  moral  faculties,  not  to 
mere  physical  force.  Hating  war,  having  a  contempt  even  for  her 
own  military  officials,  without  an  army  in  the  past  such  as  we 


172  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

would  call  an  army — ^there  have  been  great  congregations  of  men, 
but  not  soldiers — ^yet  China  stands  to-day  a  great  empire.  Do  you 
remember  that  He  said:  "Blessed  are  the  meek:  for  they  shall 
inherit  the  earth  ?"  I  think  the  most  striking  fulfillment  of  those 
words  that  we  have  on  earth  to-day  is  the  Chinese  people.  They 
have  attained  to  their  present  position,  have  occupied  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  territory  of  the  earth,  not  by  the  sword,  but  simply 
by  the  strength  and  superiority  of  their  civilization.  China  did  not 
grow  by  the  sword,  and  I  am  confident  that  China  never  will  be 
destroyed  by  the  sword.  There  is  not  power  enough  in  the  mere 
physical  forces  of  the  earth  to  destroy  her.  So  China  stands  to- 
day, strong  in  her  ancient  civilization,  antedating  all  that  of  all 
other  nations  of  the  earth ;  strong  in  the  truth  that  she  has  held 
and  is  still  holding ;  strong  in  her  vast  territories,  with  her  varied 
climate,  rich  in  agricultural  and  mineral  products ;  strong  in  her 
immense  population,  persistent,  laborious,  economical — and  unwar- 
like. 

And  yet,  weak.  I  do  not  know  of  anything  on  this  earth  to-day 
so  pathetic  as  the  position  of  the  Chinese  people.  They  stand,  as 
our  Master  said,  "as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd."  There  is  no 
Head.  The  great  moral  system  that  has  kept  them  through  the 
past,  and  is  still  keeping  them,  has  no  head ;  for  He  is  the  Head 
over  all,  but  they  have  not  yet  found  that  out.  And  so  they  are 
going  about  as  blind,  seeking  for  some  one  to  lead  them  into  the 
light.  For  as  we  come  in  contact  with  China  over  yonder  we  see 
her  more  intelligent  men,  and  especially  her  younger  men,  holding 
on  to  the  past,  realizing  that  their  empire  has  held  a  position  of 
power  and  influence  through  all  these  years ;  and  yet  realizing  also 
that  there  is  now  something  wrong  in  it,  though  not  exactly  able 
to  understand  what  it  is.  They  are  wishing  for  and  seeking  for 
the  light,  and  are  holding  out  a  hand  to  the  West,  trusting  that 
they  may  be  led  out  into  a  brighter  day. 

Now,  it  is  just  at  this  time  that  our  God  has  brought  us  face  to 
face  with  these  people;  and  I  think  I  can  safely  say  that  the 
Church  of  God  has  never  had  such  a  task  before  her  as  she  has 
to-day.  We  look  out  upon  the  world,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  God 
has  reserved  this  land  of  China  until  this  hour,  until  his  people 
could  be  trained  and  nourished  through  nineteen  long  centuries 
of  experience  in  his  truth  and  his  guidance  in  order  that  he  might 
prepare  them  for  this  great  work,  this  conquest  of  China.    And 


china:  THE  GIBRALTAR  OF  MISSIONS.  I73 

if  we  will  consider  the  matter  a  little,  I  think  we  can  see  that  our 
God  is  still  leading  as  he  has  led  in  all  the  past. 

As  we  look  back  over  the  conflicts  of  the  nations  and  the  days 
gone  by,  we  can  everywhere  see  his  hand  guiding ;  and  out  of  ev- 
ery conflict  he  has  brought  the  sons  of  men  into  a  brighter  day, 
into  a  higher  life;  and  he  is  still  guiding.  Several  things  indi- 
cate this.  For  instance,  for  this  great  work  of  to-day  God  needs 
a  larger  force  than  ever  before.  Many  of  us  have  been  thrilled 
at  the  sight  of  St.  Paul  crossing,  almost  single-handed,  over  from 
Troas  to  Philippi,  passing  from  Asia  to  Europe,  in  the  name  of 
God,  armed  only  by  the  spirit  and  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  to  conquer  the  Roman  Empire  that  then  dominated  the 
world.  But  Paul  was  going  against  a  power  that  had  won  its 
place  by  the  sword,  that  was  dominating  the  world  through  the 
sword ;  a  power  that  held  its  place  in  the  world  just  so  long  as  the 
hand  that  wielded  the  sword  was  strong.  That  was  a  comparative- 
ly easy  conquest.  But  the  world  is  being  marshaled  to-day  against 
a  nation  whose  power  is  not  the  sword,  and  never  has  been ;  and 
God  needs  a  larger  force,  a  stronger  battle  line,  and  more  coura- 
geous leaders.  This  is  clearly  indicated  to-day.  Why  is  it  that 
just  as  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  this  great  people  of  the 
East  we  have  our  great  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  here  in 
America?  Why  are  you  here  to-day?  It  is  simply  because  the 
Church  of  God  is  facing  a  problem  that  it  never  faced  before,  and 
God  is  gathering  his  armies  and  assembling  his  servants  that  they 
may  take  the  land  in  his  name.  He  wants  the  strongest  and  the 
best  it  is  possible  to  get.     [Applause.] 

And  we  see  that  he  is  laying  his  hand  upon  our  educational  in- 
stitutions also,  for  our  great  institutions  of  learning,  like  Yale, 
Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  our  own  Vanderbilt,  and  I  know 
not  how  many  others,  are  even  now  engaged  in  the  work  of  mis- 
sions in  China,  and  are  sending  out  numbers  of  their  choicest 
ypung  men  into  the  field.  God  has  put  his  hand  on  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  this  land — the  institutions  that  we  reckon  as 
those  of  power — and  is  using  them  over  yonder. 

Then  take  another  point:  It  is  just  at  this  time  that  God  has 
created  among  the  Chinese  themselves  a  great  need,  a  need  for 
something  that  can  be  supplied  only  from  the  West,  a  need  for 
something  that  the  missionary  is  in  the  most  advantageous  position 
to  give,  and  that  is  our  Western  learning,  our  Western  education. 


174  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

And  you  will  find  that  their  desire  to  gain  this,  their  insistent  de- 
mand for  it — for  it  is  a  demand  from  the  whole  people — ^has 
changed  their  attitude  entirely  toward  the  missionary.  Not  long 
ago  in  China  I  was  not  a  man ;  I  was  simply  a  foreign  devil.  Ten 
or  fifteen  years  ago  no  man  of  any  respectability  would  have  had 
aught  to  do  with  us.  But  now  that  is  all  changed ;  and  every 
barrier  that  stood  between  China  and  the  West  has  been  removed, 
and  the  only  barrier  now  to  the  progress  pf  the  gospel  among 
these  people  is  the  same  one  you  meet  with  here  every  day ;  it  is 
simply  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  Everything  else  is  gone ; 
and  we  can  come  in  contact  with  these  people,  every  class  of  them, 
for  every  door  is  open. 

Don't  think  that  the  Chinaman  is  sitting  down  with  his  mouth 
open  ready  to  take  in  our  gospel ;  he  does  not  know  anything  about 
it.  But  you  can  come  directly  in  contact  with  him,  with  the  China- 
man of  every  class;  you  are  at  full  liberty  to  approach  him  with 
the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  is  willing  to  hear  it 
patiently.  It  is  his  great  desire  for  this  Western  education  that  is 
moving  him  to-day.  And  the  result  is  that  the  youth  of  China 
to-day,  the  young  men  and  young  women,  are  being  thrown  into 
the  hands  of  the  Church,  into  the  hands  of  the  missionaries,  in 
order  that  they  may  train  them  both  for  this  life  and  the  life  that 
is  to  come. 

Now,  take  our  institution  in  Soochow.  In  our  school  there  we 
have  to-day  something  like  218  students  of  the  best  in  the  land ; 
they  represent  the  very  best.  Practically  every  one  of  our  stu- 
dents is  the  son  of  some  high  official  or  of  some  one  of  the  literary 
class  or  of  some  very  prominent  merchant ;  not  that  the  poor  are 
shut  out  (we  make  provision  for  them),  but  many  of  the  better 
class  that  we  could  not  even  speak  to  a  few  years  ago  are  now  seek- 
ing us.  They  do  not  come  to  beg  anything  at  your  hands ;  it  is  not 
"charity  work,"  as  you  would  call  it;  but  each  one  of  these  men 
comes  with  the  money  in  his  hand  to  pay  for  full  tuition  and  all 
expenses,  and  he  pays  a  higher  tuition  than  was  ever  heard  of  in 
that  land,  and  is  glad  to  do  it. 

More  than  that,  last  year  we  turned  off  a  large  number  of  ap- 
plicants who  could  not  be  received.  We  did  not  have  room  for 
them,  no  room  in  the  buildings,  nor  a  sufficient  teaching  force  to 
instruct  them.  What  happened  last  year  happened  the  year  be- 
fore ;  it  is  to  happen  again  this  year.    I  verily  believe  that  we  could 


china:  the  gibr.\ltar  of  missions.  175 

double  our  number  of  students  in  a  very  short  time  if  we  had  a 
larger  equipment.  I  am  confident  of  this ;  and  I  feel  sure  that,  if 
we  can  only  be  allowed  to  grow  and  develop,  in  a  comparatively 
short  time,  something  like  ten  years,  we  could  have  a  thousand 
young  men  there,  representing  the  very  best  of  young  China,  put 
into  our  hands  to  train  for  China  and  for  the  world. 

Do  you  understand  what  this  means  ?  It  means  that  the  Church 
of  God  in  America  to-day — and  I  say  America  advisedly,  because 
nearly  all  the  missionary  schools  in  China  are  American — it  means 
that  the  American  Church  has  the  opportunity  to-day  of  training 
the  young  men  who  to-morrow  will  be  the  leaders  in  China.  It  is 
in  your  hands ;  God  has  thrust  it  there. 

And  they  come  begging.  We  have  had  men  to  wait  in  our  proc- 
tor's office  for  two  or  three  hours,  with  their  children  and  with  the 
money  in  their  hands,  begging  that  their  sons  might  be  received ; 
and  we  would  have  to  say  "no,"  for  we  simply  could  not  take 
them.  So  this  work  is  being  pressed  upon  us.  The  fact  that  the 
gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  being  taught  in  the  school  is 
no  hindrance  whatever  to  patronage;  the  fact  that  every  boy  in 
that  school  has  to  study  the  Bible  for  three  solid  hours  a  week 
(and  it  is  real  study)  does  not  deter.  A  gentleman  who  lives  near 
Soochow  said :  "If  my  boy  wishes  to  become  a  Christian  and  join 
the  Church,  all  right ;  there  will  be  no  objection  from  me."  He 
added :  "I  am  too  old  for  that  sort  of  thing ;  but  I  want  my  chil- 
dren to  have  it  all."  His  idea  was  that  if  they  got  the  "new  learn- 
ing" in  its  fullness  they  would  have  to  take  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
along  with  it ;  that  somehow  he  was  at  the  very  heart  of  it. 

Only  the  other  day,  at  our  commencement,  which  came  off  in 
February,  we  had  a  very  prominent  Chinese  official  to  make  the 
annual  address  for  us.  Although  he  is  not  a  Christian,  he  is  a 
man  of  intelligence  and  ability,  educated  in  England ;  and  he  made 
the  statement,  and  insisted  on  it,  that  the  missionary  schools  were 
doing  decidedly  the  best  educational  work  that  was  being  done  in 
China.  He  insisted  that  our  students  stick  to  us,  that  moral  train- 
ing was  essential  in  educational  work,  and  that  religion  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  make  men.  [Applause.]  When  you  take  that 
into  consideration,  the  very  fact  that  the  education  which  we  are 
carrying  into  China  is  a  Christian  education  only  makes  it,  in  a 
real  sense,  more  acceptable  to  the  Chinaman ;  not  that  he  under- 
stands Christianity,  but  he  understands  the  necessity  of  moral  and 


176  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

religious  training.  Any  religion  is  better  than  no  religion.  It  is 
impossible  to-day  to  revivify  Confucianism.  The  only  religion  in 
China  to-day  that  has  a  future  is  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  have  government  schools  in  Soochow,  organized  by  the  gov- 
ernment; and  it  has  been  their  system  to  give  free  tuition  to  all 
their  students ;  not  only  free  tuition,  but  free  board ;  and  to  give, 
besides  that,  to  every  student  some  three  or  four  dollars  a  month 
to  pay  his  incidental  expenses ;  and  yet,  while  that  was  the  case, 
the  best  of  Soochow  and  the  surrounding  country,  as  far  as  we 
could  receive  them,  would  come  to  us  and  pay  all  their  expenses. 
They  preferred  our  system ;  it  was  the  better. 

I  want  to  say  that  we  have  the  opportunity  to-day  to  do  a  won- 
derful work  in  China ;  but  what  is  lacking  ?  Money.  We  simply 
haven't  got  it.  And  Bishop  Wilson  and  Dr.  Lambuth  insisted  that 
I  should  come  over  to  America  just  at  this  time  to  meet  you  breth- 
ren and  get  in  touch  with  this  Laymen's  Movement,  that  we  might 
get  from  you  what  we  need  to  carry  on  this  work.  As  I  told  you, 
we  are  hampered  now.  We  have  about  two  hundred  students,  and 
have  been  standing  at  that  point  about  two  years.  We  cannot  go 
farther  until  we  get  more  men  and  more  money.  I  will  be  glad 
to  talk  with  any  of  you  or  any  committee.  We  need  another 
school  building  in  Soochow;  we  also  need  larger  dormitories. 
Bishop  Candler  asked  me  awhile  ago  if  our  dormitories  were 
finished.  I  answered :  "Yes ;  and  we  need  another  one  now."  We 
need  residences  for  our  teachers.  We  also  need  a  larger  tract  of 
land ;  we  have  now  nine  acres,  but  we  greatly  need  a  plat  of  about 
ten  more  that  is  lying  just  alongside  of  us.  In  other  words,  we 
need  in  Soochow  to-day  about  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  That 
may  look  like  a  big  sum ;  but  it  would  be  a  pretty  small  thing  if 
spread  out  over  this  audience. 

Then,  if  you  are  going  to  have  a  first-class  educational  institu- 
tion in  China  (and  you  are  laying  the  foundation  there,  or  can  lay 
the  foundation  there,  for  one  of  the  great  institutions  of  that  great 
empire,  an  institution  that  in  the  future  will  rank  something  like 
Yale  or  Harvard  in  America),  we  must  have  an  endowment  so  that 
we  can  carry  on  this  work.  Now,  we  have  in  Shanghai  a  piece  of 
land  that  the  Board  proposes  to  turn  over  to  us  for  an  endow- 
ment. 

We  have  about  two  and  three-fourths  acres  of  land  in  Shanghai 
that  was  bought  by  Dr.  Allen  some  twenty-five  years  ago.    The 


china:  the  GIBRALTAR  OF  MISSIONS.  177 

Doctor  paid  for  that  land  at  that  time  (I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give 
you  the  exact  figures)  something  hke  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 
To-day  it  is  worth,  at  a  very  conservative  estimate,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  We  have  upon  one  corner  of 
that  land  a  block  of  five  buildings  for  residences,  which  were  built 
with  part  of  the  money  that  we  received  at  the  New  Orleans  col- 
lection in  1 90 1.  Now  we  have  room  enough  there  for  twenty-two 
other  buildings  just  like  the  ones  we  have.  The  cost  of  the  build- 
ings will  be  something  like  one  hundred  and  fifteen  or  twenty 
thousand  dollars.  If  we  had  that  one  hundred  and  fifteen  or 
twenty  thousand  dollars,  we  would  have  at  once  an  endowment  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  That  would  bring  us 
in  an  annual  income  of  about  seventeen  thousand  dollars  now,  and 
be  constantly  increasing,  for  the  value  of  the  property  is  still  going 
up.  It  is  a  mere  business  proposition.  The  rent  we  get  from  the 
houses,  which  is  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  year, 
is  largely  used  up  in  paying  expenses  and  taxes.  The  more  valua- 
ble the  property,  the  heavier  the  taxes ;  but  put  the  buildings  on  it, 
and  it  will  carry  itself  and  give  us  an  endowment  which,  in  con- 
nection with  our  tuition  fees,  will  carry  us  along. 

Now,  I  want  to  say  just  one  word  more.  We  have  never,  from 
the  day  our  school  first  opened  in  Soochow,  got  one  dollar  from 
the  Mission  Board  for  our  running  expenses,  not  one.  During  the 
Boxer  time,  when  I  was  afraid  we  would  need  help,  I  asked  Dr. 
Lambuth  to  send  us  five  hundred  dollars.  He  sent  it  to  us;  but 
we  did  not  use  it.    After  the  Boxer  movement  we  sent  it  back. 

Brethren,  put  the  Soochow  University  on  your  hearts;  it  is 
your  opportunity  in  the  East;  it  is  your  opportunity  in  China  to 
influence  that  great  land  and  train  the  men  who  will  be  her  lead- 
ers and  who  will  bring  China  very  near  to  God  and  establish  his 
kingdom  all  through  that  old  empire. 

Will  you  think  about  it  and  pray  about  it  ?    [Great  applause.] 
12 


XIII. 

KOREA:    A    GREAT    RELIGIOUS 
AWAKENING. 


We  have  had  and  are  still  having  in  Korea  a  genuine  revival.  Begin- 
ning four  years  ago  in  Wonsan,  it  has  touched  every  important  center 
in  the  land.  The  manifestations  of  God's  working  among  the  people  have 
been  similar  to  those  which  characterized  the  Wesleyan  revival  of  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  ago — conviction  of  sin  coming  upon  whole  bodies  of  people 
with  such  power  as  to  make  them  forget  everything  except  their  great 
need  of  forgiveness  and  cleansing.  God's  Spirit  has  been  working  so 
directly  that  often  even  the  human  agent  seems  to  be  eliminated.  In  a 
service  at  which  I  was  present  the  minister  spoke  only  one  sentence,  and 
a  wave  of  spiritual  power  took  such  hold  upon  the  people  that  he  could 
proceed  no  farther.  From  half-past  eleven  until  six  in  the  afternoon  the 
meeting  continued,  led  and  directed  by  an  unseen  but  real  Presence.  God 
alone  knows  the  cleansing  of  hearts  and  change  of  lives  that  transpired 
in  those  awful  and  sacred  hours.  More  significant,  however,  than  the 
phenomena  of  these  great  meetings  have  been  the  evidences  of  permanent 
deepening  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church.  There  is  great  clearness  as  to 
the  testimony  of  the  inward  witness,  to  answered  prayer,  to  victory  over 
temptation,  and  daily  fellowship  with  God.  The  presence  of  the  divine 
Spirit  in  the  lives  of  the  people  is  manifest  by  a  consistency,  a  patience, 
and  a  love  that  are  beyond  mere  human  power  to  produce.  Christians, 
too,  have  come  to  understand  the  difference  between  the  reality  and  the 
pretense  of  religion,  and  their  labors  for  others  are  not  satisfied  until 
there  are  evidences  that  new  life  has  been  received  from  abgve. 
(i8o) 


XIII. 
KOREA:  A  GREAT  RELIGIOUS  AWAKENING. 

REV.    J.    L.    GERDINE^  SEOUL^    KOREA, 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
Whatever  fame  Korea  may  have  among 
the  nations  of  the  world,  it  rests  not  upon 
an  ordinary  basis.  She  has  not  breadth 
of  area  nor  multiplied  millions  of  popula- 
tion; she  has  no  history  of  great  achieve- 
ments in  war  or  statecraft;  she  has  fur- 
nished to  the  world  no  masterpieces  in  lit- 
erature or  art;  her  inventions  and  discov- 
eries have  not  largely  influenced  outside 
nations;  yet  we  find  many  interested  in 
this  land  and  her  people.  Certain  publica- 
tions give  prominence  to  happenings  there  quite  disproportionate 
to  the  size  and  prominence  of  the  country.  Many  of  the  travelers 
who  go  to  the  Far  East  make  Korea  the  goal  of  their  journey.  A 
prominent  platform  speaker  recently  said  to  an  audience  of  thou- 
sands that  the  very  word  "Korea"  was  a  spell  to  quicken  interest. 
Why  is  this?  For  what  reason  does  such  a  nation  hold  atten- 
tion and  interest  from  the  public  ?  The  answer  is  found  when  you 
mention  that  those  who  are  interested  are  chiefly  Christian  people, 
and  the  publications  that  note  the  happenings  there  are  religious 
publications.  Those  who  find  interest  in  visiting  this  land  are 
those  whose  chief  concern  is  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
The  word  "Korea"  quickens  interest  only  with  those  whose  hearts 
beat  in  sympathy  with  Jesus  Christ  in  viewing  the  world  for 
which  he  died.  Korea  is  of  interest  to  Christian  people  because 
of  Korea's  interest  in  the  Christian's  Christ. 

Statesmen  may  say:  "Korea  has  little  weight  among  the  na- 
tions ;  we  pass  her  by ;  she  is  a  little  land  and  of  little  importance 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth."  Military  leaders  may  say :  "Ko- 
rea is  neither  to  be  feared  as  a  foe  nor  desired  as  an  ally ;  there- 
fore we  have  no  concern  with  her."     Commercial  interests  may 

(i8i) 


l82  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

say:  "Korea  is  a  small  field  for  us  as  compared  with  the  larger 
and  richer  nations,  and  we  will  devote  ourselves  to  the  larger 
opportunities."  The  Church  of  Christ  looks  upon  these  people 
and  says :  "The  Koreans  are  turning  to  God ;  they  are  accepting 
Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Lord;  they  are  brethren,  and  we 
must  take  an  interest  in  them ;  we  are  interested  in  them  because 
of  the  spiritual  tie  that  binds  together  those  who  are  one  in 
Christ."  We  might  say  that  but  for  the  Christian  Church  in 
Korea  there  would  be  nothing  there  to  consider;  yet  because  of 
the  history  of  the  Church  there,  no  other  land  has  greater  interest 
for  Christian  people  anywhere.  Korea  has  this  unique  distinc- 
tion of  claiming  the  attention  of  the  Christian  world  solely  from 
a  religious  view-point. 

The  subject  assigned  to  me  for  to-day  is  "A  Great  Religious 
Awakening."  The  story  of  the  establishment  and  progress  of 
the  Church  in  Korea  reads  like  romance.  Twenty-five  years  ago 
Korea  and  her  people  were  imknown.  No  Protestant  missionary 
had  pressed  foot  on  her  soil.  The  people  were  spiritually  dead, 
and  knew  not  even  the  name  of  Jesus.  Of  those  who  first  went 
with  the  message  of  salvation,  all  save  one  still  live  and  labor 
there.  They  have  seen  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  confess 
Christ  as  Lord  and  Saviour ;  they  have  seen  two  thousand  church- 
es established,  where  every  Sabbath  praise  and  prayers  ascend  to 
our  God  and  Christ ;  they  have  seen  certain  cities  where  the  per- 
centage of  churchgoers  has  already  become  greater  than  in  most 
cities  of  Christian  England  or  America ;  they  have  seen  the  atti- 
tude of  a  nation  so  changed  that  an  official,  not  himself  a  Chris- 
tian, could  say:  "There  are  now  none  of  our  people  who  are  not 
favorable  to  Christianity."  In  the  face  of  such  facts  we  can  only 
lift  our  eyes  in  humble  adoration  and  cry :  "Behold,  what  God  has 
wrought !" 

The  success  of  our  own  mission  has  been  proportionately  great. 
In  about  twelve  years,  the  length  of  time  we  have  been  in  Korea, 
starting  with  a  very  small  force,  we  now  have  one  hundred  and 
eighty  Churches,  with  an  enrollment  of  five  thousand  members 
and  probationers,  and  perhaps  five  thousand  more  who  have  not 
been  enrolled  because  not  yet  sufficiently  instructed.  The  Church 
has  grown  sixfold  in  five  years.  The  rate  of  increase  has  been 
more  than  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent  each  year.  We 
have  organized  on  an  average  more  than  a  Church  each  week  for 


KOREA:    A   GREAT   RELIGIOUS   AWAKENING.  183 

the  past  two  years ;  we  have  seen  the  people  change  in  their  atti- 
tude toward  the  Church,  so  that  a  most  cordial  welcome  is  ex- 
tended to  us  in  any  part  of  the  territory  in  which  we  labor;  we 
are  limited  only  by  inadequate  force  and  equipment.  When  we 
contemplate  these  facts,  we  can  but  stand  in  humility  before  God. 
Not  only  with  reference  to  the  growth  of  the  Church  can  we  call 
this  a  great  religious  awakening ;  but  when  you  consider  the  char- 
acter of  our  native  Christians,  it  is  wonderful  indeed.  This  must 
be  considered  from  various  standpoints. 

I  want  to  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  have  there  a  loyal 
people.  Becoming  a  Christian  means  much  to  the  Korean. 
I  believe  I  can  say  of  them  more  truthfully  than  of  any  peo- 
ple I  have  met  that  they  "seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God."  Only 
a  few  days  ago  I  had  a  letter  from  my  associates,  telling  of  our 
District  Conference  having  been  in  session  in  Wonsan,  which  is 
the  most  northerly  station.  There  were  more  than  three  hun- 
dred enrolled  at  the  District  Conference.  The  Conference  was 
held  in  the  winter;  snow  was  on  the  mountains;  and  yet  four- 
fifths  of  these  people  had  to  walk  from  four  to  six  days,  paying 
their  own  expenses  en  route  to  the  Conference  and  while  they 
were  there,  in  order  that  they  might  honor  and  serve  the  Church. 
When  I  look  upon  this  splendid  audience  and  see  how  you  have 
come  from  the  farthest  confines  of  Methodism,  as  much  as  this 
means,  I  make  bold  to  say  it  represents  no  more  sacrifice  on  your 
part  than  it  meant  to  those  three  hundred  Koreans  who  tramped 
over  the  frozen  ridges  and  mountain  passes  in  order  that  they 
might  attend  the  District  Conference.  [Applause.]  That  typifies 
the  spirit  of  the  people  with  reference  to  their  Church  relationship. 

Again,  the  Church  is  liberal.  We  think  that  the  character 
of  our  Christian  Church  will  stand  the  test.  From  the  very  first 
these  people  have  been  commended  for  their  effort  toward  self- 
support.  The  organized  Church  is  not  a  drain  upon  mission  funds. 
The  Christians  build  their  own  houses  of  worship  and  contribute 
liberally  to  the  support  of  the  native  ministers.  These  contribu- 
tions are  not  made  out  of  a  surplus,  but  at  a  sacrifice.  The  peo- 
ple as  a  whole  are  poor,  and  every  gift  to  the  cause  of  the  Church 
means  a  sacrifice  of  some  necessity.  At  our  Quarterly  Confer- 
ences reports  are  made  of  the  funds  raised.  At  one  Quarterly 
Conference  I  heard  the  leader  of  a  group  report  a  "fast  collection." 
I  asked  him  what  that  meant.  He  said  they  began  a  meeting  at  his 


1S4  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

church.  The  members  agreed  to  lay  aside  all  labor  and  business 
for  the  time  and  devote  themselves  to  the  work  of  soul-saving. 
A  mighty  blessing  came,  as  it  always  does  come  under  such  con- 
ditions. Then  the  leader  said  to  them:  *'We  have  had  a  great 
blessing,  and  we  ought  to  be  grateful.  Now  let  us  signify  our 
gratitude.  We  are  not  working,  and  we  do  not  need  to  eat  much. 
[Koreans  eat  only  two  meals  a  day.]  Let  us  live  on  one  meal  a 
day  and  give  the  price  of  the  other  meal  to  God  each  day  for  a 
week."  Those  people  gladly  did  that,  and  so  realized  quite  a 
sum.  What  do  you  think  of  such  a  spirit,  you  who  think  it  hard  if 
you  cannot  have  three  square  meals  a  day  ? 

The  women  raise  funds  in  a  way  altogether  unique.  They  have 
no  access  to  the  money  till,  but  have  control  of  the  rice  bag.  After 
giving  out  the  usual  amount  of  rice  for  a  meal,  it  is  their  custom 
to  withdraw  a  small  portion  as  a  contribution  to  the  Church.  I 
know  of  no  better  way  to  characterize  the  giving  of  the  Korean 
Christians  than  this  act  exemplifies.  'Every  meal  provided  for  the 
sustenance  of  life  pays  toll  to  the  needs  of  the  Church. 

But  more  important,  I  believe,  is  the  zeal  of  the  Korean  Chris- 
tians. These  large  gatherings  of  which  I  have  told  you  are  not 
the  only  way  of  bringing  the  word  to  the  people.  The  real  evan- 
gelization is  being  done  by  the  native  workers  themselves.  The 
missionary's  time  is  taken  up,  and  more  than  occupied,  in  train- 
ing those  brought  into  the  Church  by  these  native  agencies.  Just 
to  illustrate  how  this  progress  is  made:  I  remember  four  years 
ago  I  came  across  from  our  station  in  Wonsan  to  Songdo,  the 
first  time  that  trip  had  been  made  by  one  of  the  missionaries, 
stopping  at  a  place  in  about  the  heart  of  the  Peninsula.  I  found 
there  were  no  Christians  there,  and  no  one  had  been  preaching 
the  gospel  among  the  people.  In  less  than  two  years  we  had 
enrolled  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  Christians  and  organized  forty- 
eight  Churches.  This  work  had  been  done  by  native  Christians, 
the  missionaries  merely  leading  and  directing,     [Applause.] 

Loyalty,  liberality,  and  zeal,  important  though  tbey  be,  would 
not  satisfy  the  ideal  of  the  Church  unless  added  thereto  was  spir- 
itual life  and  power.  We  therefore  consider  of  first  importance 
the  evidence  of  growing  spirituality  among  our  people.  We  have 
had  and  are  still  having  in  Korea  a  genuine  revival.  Beginning 
four  years  ago  in  Wonsan,  it  has  touched  every  important  center 
in  the  land.     The  manifestations  of  God's  working  among  the 


Korea:  a  great  religious  awakening.  185 

"people  have  been  similar  to  those  which  characterized  the  Wes- 
leyan  revival  of  a  century  and  a  half  ago — conviction  of  sin  com- 
ing upon  whole  bodies  of  people  with  such  power  as  to  make 
them  forget  everything  except  their  great  need  of  forgiveness 
and  cleansing.  God's  Spirit  has  been  working  so  directly  that 
often  even  the  human  agent  seems  to  be  eliminated.  In  a  service 
at  which  I  was  present  the  minister  spoke  only  one  sentence,  and 
a  wave  of  spiritual  power  took  such  hold  upon  the  people  that  he 
could  proceed  no  farther.  From  half-past  eleven  until  six  in  the 
afternoon  the  meeting  continued,  led  and  directed  by  an  unseen 
but  real  Presence.  God  alone  knows  the  cleansing  of  hearts  and 
change  of  lives  that  transpired  in  those  awful  and  sacred  hours. 
More  significant,  however,  than  the  phenomena  of  these  great 
meetings  have  been  the  evidences  of  permanent  deepening  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  Church.  There  is  great  clearness  as  to  the 
testimony  of  the  inward  witness,  to  answered  prayer,  to  victory 
over  temptation,  and  daily  fellowship  witVi  God.  The  presence 
of  the  divine  Spirit  in  the  lives  of  the  people  is  manifest  by  a  con- 
sistency, a  patience,  and  a  love  that  are  beyond  mere  human  power 
to  produce.  Christians,  too,  have  come  to  understand  the  differ- 
ence between  the  reality  and  the  pretense  of  religion,  and  their 
labors  for  others  are  not  satisfied  until  there  are  evidences  that 
new  life  has  been  received  from  above. 

Having  spoken  of  the  growth  of  the  Church  and  the  character 
of  those  who  compose  it,  we  may  have  come  to  feel  that  Korea 
stands  in  no  need.  This,  however,  is  taking  a  restricted  view. 
We  have  no  time  to  stop  for  congratulations  on  what  has  been 
accomplished ;  the  great  work  is  before  us.  Although  there  are 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  Christians  in  Korea,  there  are 
thirteen  millions  yet  to  be  reached;  although  there  are  ten  thou- 
sand connected  with  the  Church,  there  are  still  two  millions  in  the 
territory  assigned  to  us  who  have  not  yet  confessed  Christ.  Much 
has  been  done  among  those  who  are  not  Christians.  They  have 
come  from  the  place  of  opposition  and  indifference  to  one  of 
favorable  attitude  toward  the  gospel.  The  native  Church,  too, 
forms  a  force  which,  under  proper  guidance  and  instruction,  can 
be  used  in  reaching  those  who  as  yet  have  not  accepted  Christ.  It 
is  a  situation  full  of  hope,  but  also  one  involving  tremendous  sac- 
rifice and  labor. 

Most  significant,  too,  is  the  crisis  that  obtains  at  the  present 


l86  THE   OPPORTUNITY/ 

time.  There  is  a  crisis  in  the  political  situation.  Within  the  past 
year  Korea  has  lost  her  national  independence,  and  an  alien  arm 
wields  political  control.  Every  day  brings  larger  numbers  of  an 
alien  race  to  live  among  these  people  who  for  centuries  have  had 
solitary  seclusion.  Without  discussing  the  rights  or  wrongs  of 
these  political  changes,  permit  me  to  say  that  the  Christian  Church 
stands  as  the  sole  bulwark  in  this  time  of  political  crisis.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  Korean  people  are  disposed  to  fling  life  away  in  a 
futile  effort  to  resist  foreign  control.  The  Christian  Church,  with 
its  teaching,  stands  directly  against  such  a  move.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  alien  power  in  control  creates  a  tendency  toward  stamp- 
ing out  the  very  life  and  spirit  of  the  people  in  subjection.  The 
Christian  Church  resists  this  tendency.  Christian  character  gives 
power  to  the  individual  which  enables  him  to  stand  in  the  might 
of  his  own  manhood  against  forces  which  otherwise  would  sub- 
merge him.  I  truly  feel  that  the  Christian  Church,  Korea's  only 
friend,  should  have  her  full  part  in  adjusting  this  trying  political 
situation.     [Applause.] 

Again,  there  is  a  crisis  in  the  educational  life  of  the  people. 
They  have  discovered  the  absolute  incompleteness  of  their  old 
system,  and  are  clamorous  for  education  along  Western  lines. 
This  they  will  have.  They  appeal  to  the  Church  for  aid.  If  the 
Church  fails,  it  will  come  from  some  other  source.  The  Church 
has  the  opportunity  to  hold  control  of  the  education  of  the  picked 
youth  of  Korea.  In  this  way,  along  with  mental  acquirement, 
they  will  receive  a  knowledge  of  Christian  truth.  Those  who  are 
to  dominate  the  life  and  thought  of  the  people  may  have  their 
life  and  ideals  molded  by  the  Christian  teachers  and  leaders,  if 
we  measure  up  to  the  present  opportunity  along  educational  lines. 
The  Church  should  neglect  nothing  that  will  give  her  this  mighty 
hold  upon  the  future  generation  in  Korea. 

Then,  too,  there  is  a  special  crisis  in  the  religious  situation. 
Korea  has  been  without  a  national  religion.  Buddhism  has  been 
under  the  ban  for  more  than  five  hundred  years,  yet  with  the 
ascendency  of  the  Japanese  a  concerted  effort  is  being  made  to  re- 
establish this  as  the  national  religion.  There  have  been  no  tem- 
ples in  Korean  cities  and  towns,  yet  to-day  on  the  same  hill  with 
one  of  our  churches  in  Songdo  there  stands  a  Buddhist  temple 
and  school.  This  is  a  challenge  flung  out  to  us  who  stand  for  the 
name  of  Christ.    Shall  it  be  Christ  or  Buddha  for  Korea? 


KOREA:    A   GREAT   RELIGIOUS   AWAKENING.  187 

The  other  crisis  in  the  religious  situation  grows  out  of  the  suc- 
cess of  our  work.  With  the  present  force  and  equipment  we  have 
been  unable  to  train  and  indoctrinate  many  of  those  who  have 
come  into  our  Churches.  This  is  a  real  problem,  and  presents  the 
strongest  appeal  of  which  I  can  conceive.  Bishop  Cranston,  who 
recently  spent  some  time  in  Korea,  summed  up  the  situation  as 
follows:  "Usually  it  has  been  the  unfelt  need  of  an  unawakened 
people  that  has  appealed  to  the  Church  of  Christ;  but  now  we 
hear  the  cry  of  millions  who  feel  their  need,  and  wait  in  tears  be- 
fore God  and  his  Church  for  help.  What  shall  become  of  us  if, 
having  excited  their  hopes,  we  only  taunt  their  hunger  with  vi- 
sions of  bread  beyond  their  reach  ?" 

I  have  looked  forward,  my  brethren,  to  this  hour  with  both 
joy  and  fear.  I  look  into  your  faces  and  remember  that  you  rep- 
resent the  laity  of  the  Church  which  has  made  me  one  of  her  rep- 
resentatives in  Korea.  I  speak  for  a  handful  who  labor  there, 
and  who  look  to  you  to  supply  what  is  needed  in  order  to  accom- 
plish the  task  to  which  they  have  been  set.  They  are  taxed  almost 
beyond  human  endurance,  and  ask  that  others  be  sent  to  share 
the  ever-increasing  burden  of  responsibility ;  they  ask  for  equip- 
ment, that  the  work  may  be  carried  on  to  advantage.  I  have 
letters  in  my  pocket  telling  me  of  the  needs  which  we  are  de- 
pending upon  you  and  upon  the  Church  to  satisfy.  What  shall 
be  the  message  I  carry  back  to  these  men  whom  you  have  sent  to 
this  land?  I  am  glad  to  say  that  they  are  brave  men  who  are 
laboring  in  Korea.  I  speak  for  ten  thousand  Christians  connected 
with  our  Church,  who  pray  for  the  mother  Church  as  they  pray 
for  themselves.  Many  of  them  have  as  yet  imperfect  knowledge, 
and  are  asking  to  be  taught  the  way  more  perfectly;  they  are 
asking  that  school  privileges  be  provided,  so  that  the  coming  gen- 
eration may  become  a  stronger  and  better  generation  than  the 
present ;  they  look  in  vain  for  better  light  unless  we  give  it  to 
them.  I  speak  for  the  two  million  as  yet  unreached  who  live  in 
the  territory  assigned  to  our  Church.  Other  missions  work  else- 
where. We  alone  are  charged  with  the  responsibility  for  these. 
If  we  withhold  the  light  and  they  perish  in  darkness,  we  shall 
have  to  give  account  for  our  neglect.  They  are  ready  to  hear; 
they  are  open  to  our  teachings;  they  eagerly  await  our  coming. 
Shall  they  be  disappointed  ? 

I  have  given  you  Korea's  message.    What  will  your  answer  be 


1 88  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

to  this  call  ?  We  have  estimated  that  ten  men  and  perhaps  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  will  be  enough  to  enable  us  to  minister  to  these 
people  looking  to  us  for  the  light.  That  will  relieve  the  overtaxed 
missionaries;  it  will  furnish  teachers  for  the  instruction  in  the 
Church  and  in  schools  for  the  youth ;  it  will  furnish  leaders  for 
pushing  the  work  of  evangelization  among  the  two  million  as  yet 
unreached.  Please  God,  in  a  few  weeks  I  go  back  to  my  labor. 
I  count  it  not  a  matter  for  your  sympathy,  but  a  matter  of  joy. 
I  go  back  to  bear  what  message  you  may  send  to  those  who  labor 
with  me  for  these  people;  I  go  back  to  tell  them  of  what  your 
feelings  toward  them  are,  to  tell  them  of  what  your  attitude  is 
with  reference  to  pushing  forward  in  Korea  the  work  which  we 
have  begun ;  I  go  back,  brethren,  to  those  two  million  people  who 
stand  in  their  awful  need  and  for  whose  evangelization  our  Church 
is  responsible.  The  Southern  Methodist  Church  has  undertaken 
to  give  the  gospel  to  that  number  of  people.  They  sit  there  in 
need  more  tremendous  than  we  can  contemplate,  every  hope  to 
which  they  have  clung  in  the  past  having  been  shattered.  And 
even  the  non-Christian  people — how  many  times  have  I  heard  them 
say:  "The  last  hope  in  which  we  have  put  our  faith  has  been 
shattered,  and  we  can  only  turn  to  God  for  help !"  Here  we  have 
millions  who  realize  their  need,  and  wait  in  tears  before  God  and 
his  Church  for  help. 

So  I  ask  you  again :  What  shall  become  of  us  if,  having  excited 
their  hopes,  we  only  taunt  them  with  visions  of  bread  beyond  their 
reach  ?  W'hat  shall  be  the  answer  of  the  Church ?  I  leave  it  with 
you  in  conclusion.  The  responsibility  for  meeting  this  crisis  is 
upon  us.  Christ  and  a  crushed  people  await  your  answer. 
[Great  applause.] 


XIV. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CONQUEST  OF  JAPAN. 


If  I  were  to  take  you  to  the  city  of  Osaka,  the  Manchester  of  Japan, 
where  capital  is  busy  at  work  in  industrial  production,  you  would  soon 
feel  the  necessity  of  bringing  capital  there  under  the  control  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  attracting  large  numbers  to  the  city,  away  from 
their  homes  in  the  interior,  largely  women  and  children.  You  would  find 
that  they  work  twelve  hours  a  day;  you  would  find  that  they  receive  as 
their  wage  six  or  seven  cents  a  day;  you  would  find  that  they  have  no 
Sabbath  rest;  you  would  find  that  they  are  compelled  to  sleep  thirty  or 
forty  in  a  room  i8xi8  feet  in  size;  you  would  find  these  people  enslaved 
by  capital  and  subjected  to  all  the  temptations  of  the  city.  So  the  great 
problem  in  Japan,  because  the  future  Japan  is  to  be  one  in  which  capital 
controls,  is  to  Christianize  capital ;  and  I  affirm  that,  inasmuch  as  capital 
has  attracted  people  to  the  city  in  Japan  and  people  to  the  city  in  America, 
capital  must  take  care  of  these  people ;  and  inasmuch  as  capital  has  created 
city  problems,  it  is  responsible  for  the  solution  of  city  problems ;  and  inas- 
much as  capital  has  produced  the  necessity  for  benevolence,  capital  must 
provide  benevolence  and  meet  the  needs  of  the  people  it  has  attracted  to 
the  city. 

(190) 


XIV. 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CONQUEST  OF  JAPAN. 

DR.  S.  H.  WAINRIGHT,  ST.   LOUIS,  MO. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
I  wish  to  speak  of  Japan  as  a  distinct  na- 
tion, and  bring  that  country  before  your 
attention  as  perhaps  the  finest  opportunity 
that  the  Church  has  to-day  for  Christian 
conquest. 

The  word  sounded  out  in  this  genera- 
tion as  the  watchword  of  our  day  has 
been  "The  EvangeHzation  of  the  Whole 
World."  I  wish  to  modify  that  watch- 
word slightly  in  order  to  bring  it  to  bear  upon  Japan  as  a  nation. 
I  think  that  we  should  not  simply  render  the  whole  world 
Christian,  but  render  the  whole  of  life  Christian.  All  life  is  one. 
We  never  have  understood  that  so  well  as  we  do  to-day,  and  the 
great  call  to  the  Church  is  to  render  all  life  Christian. 

But  the  world  of  to-day,  which  is  essentially  a  unit,  breaks  up 
in  many  forms ;  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Church  not  only  to 
render  the  whole  world  Christian,  but  also  to  make  every  nation 
Christian,  and  to  evangelize  every  family ;  to  evangelize  trade,  in- 
dustry, politics,  art,  literature,  education ;  to  render  capital  Chris- 
tian, to  render  labor  Christian,  to  render  wealth  Christian,  and  to 
render  poverty  Christian.  In  other  words,  our  call  is  to  evangelize 
the  whole  world,  and  to  render  the  whole  of  the  life  of  man  Chris- 
tian. 

Now,  if  that  is  true,  Japan  affords  the  finest  opportunity  out- 
side of  the  Christian  nations  for  evangelistic  work,  because  Japan 
is  the  most  truly  awakened  of  any  Asiatic  or  non-Christian  na- 
tion as  regards  politics,  trade,  industry,  art,  literature,  and  edu- 
cation and  all  those  conditions  that  go  to  make  up  national  life, 
and  the  most  completely  furnished  in  all  those  different  forms 
which  national  life  must  possess.    Japan  is  the  most  highly  de- 

(191) 


192  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

veloped,  the  most  politically  developed  nation  outside  of  the  range 
of  Christian  nations. 

Politically,  it  is  more  independent  than  any  other  Asiatic  na- 
tion. In  no  other  nation  does  the  tide  of  common  life  flow  more 
freely  than  in  Japan.  It  is  more  sensitive  from  circumference 
to  center  than  any  of  the  older  and  non-Qiristian  nations.  Its 
doors  are  open  to  a  wider  range  of  interests  than  any  other 
pagan  nation.  Its  hospitality  to  strangers  from  the  outside 
world  is  more  hearty,  more  intelligent,  and  more  genuine  than  in 
any  other  Asiatic  nation.  The  mobility  of  the  social  life  of  the 
nation  is  greater  than  that  of  Korea,  China,  India,  of  any  other 
nation  outside  of  Christendom.  There  is  a  freer  flow  of  popu- 
lation from  place  to  place  and  from  class  to  class.  Men  not  only 
move  from  the  lower  class  to  the  higher  classes,  but  also  move 
from  the  higher  classes  down  to  the  lower  classes.  There  is  a 
greater  freedom  in  the  movement  of  Japanese  population  toward 
outside  countries,  back  and  forth,  than  is  the  case  in  any  other 
pagan  nation.  And  the  approach  of  Japan  to  the  Christian  world 
is  greater,  is  closer,  than  that  of  any  other  Asiatic  nation.  They 
have  entered* more  heartily  into  sympathy  with  our  ideals  of 
national  life  than  any  other  outside  nation.  And  Christian  na- 
tions have  made  greater  concessions  to  Japan  and  have  granted 
more  privileges  to  Japan  and  have  accorded  to  Japan  a  higher 
standing  than  has  been  the  case  with  any  other  heathen  nation 
during  Christian  history. 

If  you  should  enter  into  the  interior  and  study  the  organized 
forms  of  national  life  in  Japan,  you  would  find  it  modern  in 
every  respect.  They  have  the  most  thoroughly  organized  system 
of  industry  outside  of  the  Christian  nations.  We  heard  to-day 
that  this  city,  w^hose  hospitality  we  are  enjoying,  produces  five 
hundred  different  kinds  of  articles  of  commerce.  That  speaks 
well  for  this  city.  You  will  find  in  Japan  a  greater  number  of 
articles  produced  by  her  system  of  industry — a  greater  variety 
in  her  industrial  productions — than  you  will  find  anywhere  else 
outside  of  Christendom.  You  will  find  the  channels  of  com- 
merce greater  and  the  facilities  for  trade  greater  than  anywhere 
else.  You  will  find  public  opinion  more  eflFective  and  influencing 
a  larger  number  of  people  than  anywhere  else  outside  of  Chris- 
tendom.   You  will  find  freer  forms  of  government,  parliamentary 


THE   CHRISTIAN    CONQUEST   OF   JAPAN.  I93 

and  constitutional  government,  than  you  will  find  anywhere  else. 
And  you  will  find,  also,  that  Japan  as  a  nation  has  broken  away 
from  her  past  more  thoroughly  than  any  other  Asiatic  nation. 
In  every  respect  the  changes  that  have  been  brought  about  in 
Japan  have  rendered  Japan  ripe  for  Christian  conquest. 

And  if  it  is  the  business  of  the  Church  to  save  men  and  make 
Christian  all  of  the  relationships  of  men,  Japan  stands  out  as 
the  greatest  challenge,  the  most  urgent  challenge  that  we  can 
find  in  the  whole  unevangelized  world. 

Of  course  the  Church,  in  its  primary  and  fundamental  work, 
addresses  itself  to  the  human  heart;  and  if  we  succeed  in  the 
Christian  conquest  of  Japan,  we  must  address  our  gospel  to  the 
heart,  the  national  heart,  in  the  secret  chambers  of  which  the 
destinies  of  men  and  of  nations  are  forged.  And  if  you  bring 
the  gospel  to  bear  upon  the  heart  of  Japan,  alongside  of  Con- 
fucianism and  Buddhism,  you  can  reach  more  effectively  the 
goal  for  which  we  aim.  We  have  reached  more  effectively  the 
heart  of  the  people  than  either  of  these  traditional  religions,  be- 
cause Buddhism  and  Confucianism  are  not  clear  with  regard  to 
the  vital  point  in  religion — that  is,  the  relation  between  the  soul, 
the  individual  soul,  and  God.  It  seems  that  Christianity  is  mak- 
ing that  clear;  that  Christianity  is  winning  triumphs  over  the 
heart  of  individuals  in  Japan. 

But  if  you  were  to  ask  me  to-day  whether  Japan  as  a  nation 
is  capable  of  progress,  after  study  and  observation  in  that  em- 
pire for  many  years,  I  would  be  compelled  to  answer :  "I  do  not 
know."  And  if  you  were  to  ask  me  if  Japan  is  capable  of  assim- 
ilating Christian  civilization,  I  would  be  compelled  to  answer :  "I 
do  not  know."  I  do  know  that  Japan  has  assimilated  two  civ- 
ilizations: the  civilization  of  India  and  the  civilization  of  China. 
And  I  believe  that  Japan  has  sufficient  national  energy  to  assim- 
ilate Christian  civilization ;  but  that  question  is  not  yet  settled  in 
Japan. 

But  if  you  were  to  ask  me,  "Is  Japan  capable  of  the  higher 
life?  Is  she  capable  of  Christian  service?  Is  she  capable  of 
devotion  to  Christ  in  evangelistic  effort  and  in  work  with  and  for 
the  Church?"  I  would  be  able  to  answer  that  question  in  the 
affirmative,  and  say  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  bit  of  doubt 
about  it.     [Applause.]     That  question  is  settled  in  Japan  as  re- 

13 


194  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

gards  the  individual  and  as  regards  the  Church.  Japanese  Chris- 
tians as  individuals  and  as  a  Church  are  capable  of  all  that  the 
spiritual  life  means. 

But  we  are  facing,  in  this  age,  conditions  of  great  national  im- 
portance, and  I'll  bring  that  close  enough  home  to  bring  be- 
fore your  minds  the  difficulties  we  have  in  the  enterprise  of  con- 
quering Japan  for  Christ.  Take  capital,  for  instance — the  last, 
almost  the  last,  young  giant  that  has  sprung  up  in  the  world, 
and  which  must  be  brought  into  subserviency  to  Christ.  It  is 
the  great  force  of  the  modern  world.  It  is  a  new  force  in  the 
situation  in  Japan. 

If  I  were  to  take  you  to  the  city  of  Osaka,  the  Manchester  of 
Japan,  where  capital  is  busy  at  work  in  industrial  production, 
you  would  soon  feel  the  necessity  of  bringing  capital  there  un- 
der the  control  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  attracting 
large  numbers  to  the  city,  away  from  their  homes  in  the  interior, 
largely  women  and  children.  You  would  find  that  they  work 
twelve  hours  a  day;  you  would  find  that  they  receive  as  their 
wage  six  or  seven  cents  a  day;  you  would  find  that  they  have  no 
Sabbath  rest ;  you  would  find  that  they  are  compelled  to  sleep 
thirty  or  forty  in  a  room  i8xi8  feet  in  size;  you  would  find  these 
people  enslaved  by  capital  and  subjected  to  all  the  temptations 
of  the  city. 

So  the  great  problem  in  Japan,  because  the  future  Japan  is  to 
be  one  in  which  capital  controls,  is  to  Christianize  capital;  and 
I  affirm  that,  inasmuch  as  capital  has  attracted  people  to  the  city 
in  Japan  and  people  to  the  city  in  America,  capital  must  take 
care  of  these  people;  and  inasmuch  as  capital  has  created  city 
problems,  it  is  responsible  for  the  solution  of  city  problems ;  and 
inasmuch  as  capital  has  produced  the  necessity  for  benevolence, 
capital  must  provide  benevolence  and  meet  the  needs  of  the 
people  it  has  attracted  to  the  city. 

For  example,  take  in  the  interior,  where  a  man  or  a  woman 
was  cared  for  by  kindred — God's  natural  surroundings,  which 
he  places  about  every  individual  life  born  into  the  world.  When 
capital  attracts  that  life  away  from  the  home,  where  domestic 
manufacturing  has  been  carried  on  (and  most  of  the  beautiful 
things  you  get  from  Japan  are  manufactured  in  the  home)  ; 
when  capital  attracts  those  people  away  from  the  home  into  the 


THE   CHRISTIAN    CONQUEST   OF   JAPAN.  I95 

city,  where  they  have  no  homes  and  no  kindred — then  benevo- 
lence becomes  a  necessity.  And  inasmuch  as  capital  has  pro- 
duced that  necessity,  capital  is  responsible  for  meeting  the  needs ; 
and  until  capital  is  Christianized  in  the  cities  of  Japan,  there  will 
be  no  hospitals,  there  will  be  no  charity  institutions  of  any  sort, 
as  there  are  none  at  present  in  the  great  cities  there. 

Not  only  is  it  necessary  for  us  to  Christianize  capital  and  to 
follow  those  lines  that  have  been  opened  up  to  us  through  capital 
in  Japan,  but  we  must  do  that  in  this  country.  And  now  that 
the  laymen  have  united  their  forces  with  the  forces  already  at 
work,  the  conquest  of  nations  for  Christ  is  on  in  earnest. 

But  there  is  one  great  agency  that  has  not  yet  been  conse- 
crated and  dedicated  to  the  service  of  evangelizing  the  outside 
nations;  and  that  is  wealth.  Can  you  single  out  to  me  any  great 
gift  that  has  been  donated  for  foreign  missionary  work  in  our 
Church?  The  largest  gift  I  have  any  knowledge  of  was  a  gift 
of  $25,000. 

But  to-day,  if  we  had  the  capital  to  provide  for  our  institutions 
in  Japan  and  to  equip  them,  they  would  take  first  rank  in  the 
building  up  of  a  Christian  young  manhood  and  young  womanhood 
in  that  country. 

And  what  is  it  that  has  attracted  the  Japanese  to  th-e  United 
States?  It  is  our  capital.  They  feel  the  economic  pressure  in 
their  own  country,  and  come  here  because  our  capital  attracts 
them.  I  believe  that,  if  it  is  in  the  order  of  God's  providence  that 
they  should  be  attracted  here,  the  Church  should  recognize  it  as 
the  providence  of  God,  and  not  shut  the  doors  in  their  faces, 
but  allow  the  Japanese  to  come  in — under  proper  regulation,  of 
course — and  through  that  body  of  Japanese  attracted  to  our 
nation  reach  the  Japanese  in  their  own  nation. 

The  Laymen's  Movement  has  this  significance,  if  nothing  else : 
that  we  must  look  to  larger  agencies  for  the  reaching  of  nations 
than  the  mere  preaching  of  the  gospel  through  the  ordained  min- 
istry in  our  great  Christian  conquest.  When  we  think  of  it,  that 
has  been  so  with  the  conversion  of  the  negro.  The  negro  was  not 
converted  as  a  race  by  sending  foreign  missionaries  to  him ;  but, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  he  was  brought  into  our  midst,  and 
there  brought  into  contact  with  Christianity. 

The  broad  intercourse  between  Japan,  China,  and  Korea  and 


196  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

the  United  States  is  one  of  the  greatest  channels  for  assimilating 
Christian  civilization  on  the  part  of  these  nations.  I  trust  that 
this  way  will  be  opened  up  again,  that  the  doors  will  not  be  closed, 
and  that  through  the  Japanese  coining  to  this  country  and  attend- 
ing our  universites  and  dweUing  in  our  niidst  and  then  returning 
to  their  own  country  we  may  reach  a  larger  number  with  the  gos- 
pel than  we  can  through  the  ministry. 

I  wish  to  mention,  in  conclusion,  another  fact  with  regard  to 
Japan.  Unlike  any  other  Asiatic  nation,  and  unlike  any  other  non- 
Christian  power,  it  has  placed  emphasis  upon  efficiency  in  all  of 
its  departments  of  national  life.  So  impressed  were  some  of  the 
great  statesmen  of  the  West  with  the  national  efficiency  displayed 
in  the  war  with  Russia  that  the}^  advocated  the  doing  away  with 
party  politics,  that  the  nations  in  the  West  might  have  the  efficien- 
cy displayed  by  Japan  in  the  East.  So  great  was  her  efficiency  in 
her  medical  department  that  one  of  our  great  American  doctors, 
a  representative  of  the  nations  which  have  taught  the  Japanese 
the  medical  science,  has  brought  before  our  government  their 
efficiency  in  medical  service  during  the  war.  They  have  laid 
so  much  emphasis  upon  efficiency  in  education  that  the  British 
government  has  sent  a  commission  to  make  a  study  of  the  Jap- 
anese national  system,  to  report  back  to  the  government  at  home. 
And  so  great  stress  does  Japan  lay  upon  efficiency  in  commerce 
that  she  is  spending  more  money  to-day  than  the  United  States 
for  the  education  of  young  men  for  business,  imitating  Germany 
in  that  respect,  and  providing  education  for  commercial  pursuits 
in  her  institutions,  where  thousands  of  young  men  who  propose 
entering  business  life  can  receive  a  training.  In  these  schools 
Japan  lays  so  much  stress  upon  efficiency  that  it  is  very  difficult 
for  one  to  secure  a  position  as  teacher.  The  standard  set  for  all 
schools  is  a  very  high  scale,  and  the  school  which  does  not  meas- 
ure up  to  that  standard  is  placed  under  disability.  So  much 
stress,  all  the  way  through  national  life,  is  laid  upon  efficiency 
that,  if  the  Church  expects  to  impress  its  message  upon  Japan  to- 
day, there  is  one  thing  that  we  must  not  overlook — the  work  of 
the  Church  must  have  the  stamp  of  efficiency  upon  it. 

If  you  take  the  history  of  our  own  college,  our  own  school  in 
Japan  (the  only  school  for  boys  representing  our  Church)  and 
see  how  it  has  struggled  up,  in  spite  of  its  inefficiency,  to  a  place 


THE   CHRISTIAN    CONQUEST   OF  JAPAN,  I97 

of  first  rank  in  the  Japanese  Empire,  you  can  realize  what  that  in- 
stitution might  have  accomplished  if  it  had  been  amply  equipped, 
and  if  it  had  been  able  to  free  itself  from  the  disability  placed 
upon  it  by  the  Japanese  government  because  of  its  inefficiency, 
and  if  it  had  been  able  to  take  a  place  alongside  the  Japanese  in- 
stitutions in  its  curriculum  and  in  its  equipment.  But  that  has 
not  been  the  case;  it  has  been  a  school  that  has  worked  its  way 
up  through  poverty,  and  having  no  equipment  practically  except 
the  character  and  the  faith  and  the  devotion  of  the  men  who 
constituted  its  faculty.  When  the  Minister  of  Education  went 
through  the  building  and  talked  with  the  professors  and  saw  our 
student  body,  he  said :  "I  want  to  say  frankly  to  you,  as  a  min- 
ister of  education  for  the  empire  of  Japan,  I  admire  this  insti- 
tution, and  I  congratulate  you  on  the  work  you  have  done  with 
your  equipment."  But,  brethren,  we  cannot  address  ourselves 
as  a  Church  to  the  Japanese  people  through  the  educational 
agencies  we  have  there  unless  we  equip  our  institutions  and  do 
first-class  educational  work  in  every  respect. 

Our  college  has  stood  for  advanced  work  in  every  respect,  and 
has  tried  to  keep  abreast  of  the  age.  It  has  combined  this  idea 
of  scholarship  with  evangelical  religion.  And  from  time  to  time, 
under  these  limitations,  we  have  had  revivals  of  religion,  and 
the  college  has  become  noted  throughout  the  empire  for  its 
warmth  of  evangelical  religion  in  its  faculty  and  in  its  student 
body.  And  we  believe  that,  if  the  Christian  Church  can  have 
the  efficiency  in  our  institution  that  the  other  institutions  of 
Japan  have,  it  will  be  able  to  obtain  recognition  of  the  Japanese 
government  and  will  occupy  a  place  among  Far  Eastern  nations. 

But  I  want  to  stress  this  point :  We  must  emphasize  efficiency 
more  in  our  missionary  work.  There  are  three  aspects  of  mis- 
sionary work — worship,  teaching,  and  beneficence. 

I  think  the  missionary  body  makes  a  deep  impression  upon 
the  Japanese  people  as  regards  worship ;  they  are  devout,  and 
they  lead  the  people  to  worship  the  one  true  God  devoutly.  Ev- 
erywhere Christian  worship  makes  a  deep  impression  on  national 
life. 

The  missionaries  are  beneficent;  they  are  the  go-betweens, 
standing  between  the  nations  in  Europe  and  America  and  the 
Asiatic  nations ;  and,  consequently,  missionaries  have  been  peace- 


198  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

makers.  They  are  the  friends  of  the  people,  and  the  people  have 
learned  to  appreciate  the  missionary  as  a  friend  and  to  look  to 
him  as  their  counselor  and  one  who  has  deep  sympathy  with  their 
aspirations  and  interests. 

But  the  missionary  body  in  Japan  is  not  as  efficient  as  it  should 
be  for  teaching.  When  one  of  their  own  sages  sits  down  before 
his  Sacred  Book  and  begins  to  teach  it,  there  is  one  thing  that 
Asiatics  have  always  required  of  him — a  thorough  knowledge  of 
that  book.  I  believe  that,  if  we  equipped  our  missionaries  all 
more  thoroughly  with  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  religion  they  go  to  teach,  they  could  present 
themselves  to  the  Japanese  as  a  body  of  thoroughly  qualified 
teachers  of  the  Sacred  Book  of  the  West;  and  that  the  general 
efficiency  of  the  missionary  body  would  be  far  greater  than  it  is 
to-day. 

The  Laymen's  Movement  can  stand  back  of  this  missionary 
movement,  and  make  it  more  efficient ;  and  it  is  largely  with  you 
whether  or  not  it  will  be  made  more  efficient.  It  depends  upon 
you  as  to  whether  or  not  we  shall  be  able  to  give  the  Japanese 
people  more  efficient  institutions  from  now  on.  It  is  in  your 
power  to  make  our  work  more  efifective;  for  we  are  not  address- 
ing ourselves  to  the  Japanese  people  as  effectively  as  we  should 
or  as  the  rising  standard  in  that  country  demands. 


XV. 
BRAZIL:  A  BUGLE  CALL  TO  VICTORY. 


And  permit  me,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  the  Roman  Catholic  preju- 
dice is  not  what  you  would  expect  it  to  be  in  Brazil.  Largely,  the  people 
are  in  our  favor.  Nine-tenths  of  the  educated  people  of  Brazil  are  the 
friends  of  the  Protestants.  They  have  seen  Romanism  as  Romanism  is  in 
a  Roman  Catholic  country,  and  they  have  become  tired  of  it.  After  being 
in  Brazil  some  four  or  five  years,  I  thought  that  the  Brazilians  were  skep- 
tical, and  I  at  once  rushed  to  the  conclusion:  "Why,  the  French  lesson 
is  to  be  repeated  here  in  Brazil."  We  no  longer  have  a  Church  of  State; 
but  the  intelligent  classes  are  driven  from  the  Church  into  infidelity  and 
into  atheism.  And  permit  me  to  say  that  Roman  Catholicism  is  a  thou- 
sand times  better  than  skepticism.  But  I  soon  discovered  that  the  men  I 
thought  skeptical  were  not  skeptical  at  all,  but  had  faith  in  God;  but  they 
had  no  faith  in  the  work  of  the  Church.  And  they  watched  the  mission- 
aries as  we  watch  a  spy.  And  the  eyes  of  the  thousands  of  people  of  Bra- 
zil are  on  us  as  the  representatives  of  the  cross  in  a  way  that  they  are 
fixed  on  no  others  in  society. 
(200) 


XV. 
BRAZIL:  A  BUGLE  CALL  TO  VICTORY. 

REV.  E.  A.  TILLY,  ASHLAND,  VA. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
It  is  my  pleasure  to  speak  to  you  this 
afternoon  on  our  South  American  neigh- 
bor, Brazil;  and  I  wish  to  say  to  you 
frankly  that  the  work  of  the  Southern 
Methodist  Church  in  Brazil  is  such  that 
the  missionaries  can  approve,  and  such 
'that  you  can  approve.  From  your  mis- 
sionary force  in  Brazil  you  never  hear 
a  despondent  note.  There  is  victory  in 
every  conversation,  and  we  believe  in  the 
triumph  of  the  gospel  in  the  land  of  the  Southern  Cross. 

Some  twenty-one  years  ago  it  was  my  good  pleasure  to  sail 
from  Newport  News,  in  company  with  the  sainted  Granbery, 
for  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Arriving  in  that  city,  I  found  we  had  some 
one  hundred  and  eighty  members.  To-day  in  the  republic  of 
Brazil  you  have  over  six  thousand  members;  you  have  an  An- 
nual Conference  and  you  have  a  mission. 

During  all  these  years  (and  I  believe  that  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions will  bear  me  out  in  this  assertion)  our  reports  have  been 
excellent;  the  spirit  of  complaint  has  been  banished  from  the 
hearts  of  our  membership.  We  see  difficulties,  but  we  do  not 
lose  faith  because  of  those  difficulties;  rather,  we  face  the  diffi- 
culties and  with  faith  in  God  we  conquer  them. 

With  our  small  membership  in  the  beginning,  and  with  our 
increased  membership  to-day,  the  Church  expects  much  of  its 
working  force  in  Brazil ;  and  I  say  to  you  this  afternoon,  as 
Southern  Methodists,  you  can  always  expect  good  reports  from 
Brazil. 

Our  men  and  women  who  are  laboring  in  Brazil  are  faithful 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.     They  may  make  mistakes,  but 

(20I) 


202  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

they  work  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  they  have  the  results  to 
show  for  the  work  done. 

For  a  few  minutes  permit  me  to  call  your  attention  to  our 
college  work  at  Juiz  de  Fora,  the  Granbery  College.  Will  you 
Southern  Methodists  beheve  that  you  have  a  university  in  Brazil  ? 
Possibly  in  the  Granbery  College  you  have  the  largest  enroll- 
ment in  any  of  your  foreign  fields.  I  do  not  say  positively  that 
you  have,  but  two  weeks  ago  I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Tar- 
boux,  the  President  of  Granbery  College,  in  which  he  declares 
they  have  three  hundred  and  five  pupils  in  all  the  departments. 
We  have  our  Preparatory  school  of  three  years;  we  have  our 
College  course  of  six  years,  modeled  after  the  German  system; 
we  have  a  course  of  Pharmacy,  three  years;  Dentistry,  three 
years;  we  have  our  Theological  course  of  three  years;  and  we 
expect,  in  the  providence  of  God,  that  the  time  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  we  shall  have  a  Medical  school  and  a  Law  school,  and 
our  university  will  be  complete. 

We  expect  these  things  of  the  Board.  If  the  Board  does  not 
give  them  to  us,  we  will  get  them  from  the  Church  here  or  in 
Brazil.  We  are  going  ahead  with  the  system  we  have  begun. 
In  this  laymen's  meeting,  permit  me  to  say,  gentlemen,  that  you 
have  a  splendid  opportunity  to  give  us  a  Dentist.  We  have  asked, 
year  after  year,  for  a  Dentist  in  the  Granbery,  but  he  has  not  been 
forthcoming.  We  have  asked  for  a  Pharmacist,  but  he  has  not 
been  forthcoming.  You  laymen  to-day,  if  you  could  see  how 
well  your  work  has  succeeded  in  Brazil,  would  give  us  a  Dentist 
and  a  Pharmacist. 

And,  while  I  am  on  this  line,  I  will  say  that  in  the  city  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro  we  have  one  of  the  best  publishing  houses  of 
our  Church.  Yet,  for  years  and  years,  we  have  been  embar- 
rassed. Some  three  thousand  dollars  has  been  hanging  over  our 
heads;  and  though  we  have  had  loyal  agents  and  hard-working 
men,  their  whole  life  has  been  troubled  because  of  these  debts. 
I  thank  our  Heavenly  Father  that  at  the  expiration  of  this  year 
the  publishing  house  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  will  not  owe  a  dollar. 

But,  as  a  Laymen's  Convention,  I  say  to  you  to-day,  we  need 
the  preacher  who  has  been  the  agent  of  the  publishing  house 
for  a  number  of  years  in  the  active  aflFairs  of  evangelization.  Give 
us  a  layman  for  that  work  in  Rio.    You  have  the  ability;  em- 


brazil:  a  bugle  call  to  victory.  203 

barrass  us  not,  as  preachers  of  the  gospel,  with  this  secular  work. 
I  will  not  admit  for  a  moment  that  the  preacher  is  not  capaci- 
tated to  do  this  work  as  well  as  you  are.  We  are  capacitated, 
as  our  good  Bishop  said  this  morning,  but  "we  have  other  fish 
to  fry."  We  should  be  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  people  and 
not  be  looking  after  the  business  affairs  of  the  Church;  that  is 
your  business. 

Let  me  say  a  word  in  regard  to  our  educational  work.  (The 
ladies  are  not  represented  on  this  occasion,  and  so  I  know  they 
will  not  hear  what  I  have  to  say  in  regard  to  their  work  in 
Brazil.)  Their  mission  fields  speak  for  themselves.  The  women 
of  our  Church  have  splendid  educational  plants  in  Brazil.  And, 
let  me  say  to  you  as  a  representative  of  the  Board  of  Missions, 
they  are  doing  splendid  work.  Your  school  at  Petropolis  has 
over  one  hundred  young  women,  the  brightest,  the  fairest  in 
Brazil.  The  work  is  excellent;  just  as  good  as  you  will  get  in 
any  of  our  colleges  in  the  United  States,  up  to  the  freshman  or 
sophomore  year. 

In  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  you  have  three  schools.  You 
are  doing  excellent  work  in  these  three  schools.  You  have 
more  than  two  hundred  children  in  attendance  in  the  city.  You 
have  a  magnificent  college  at  Juiz  de  Fora,  your  own  property. 
You  have  one  hundred  girls  in  that  school.  It  is  splendidly 
managed  and  noble  work  is  being  done.  In  the  capital  of  the 
great  State  of  Minas  Geraes  we  have  our  Isabella  Hendrix  Col- 
lege, possibly  the  best  school  the  women  have  in  that  vast  re- 
public. You  are  doing  excellent  work  there.  You  have  some 
one  hundred  pupils  here.  In  Piracicaba  you  have  your  best 
school,  with  about  two  hundred  pupils.  In  the  city  of  Ribeirao 
Preto  you  have  a  magnificent  girls'  school.  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  women  belong  to  a  Woman's  Laymen's  Movement 
or  not,  but  see  to  it  that  your  Board  of  Missions  has  its  own 
property  in  the  city  of  Ribeirao  Preto. 

Run  down  to  our  independent  mission  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul, 
and  there  you  have  a  good  Church,  and  the  school  doing  fine  edu- 
cational work,  under  the  control  of  the  representative  of  the  Wom- 
an's Board.  Your  work  is  excellent  in  that  city.  You  have  over 
two  hundred  pupils,  and  those  pupils  are  being  brought  into  the 
Church. 


504  '•'HE   OPPORTUNITY. 

And  let  me  say  in  this  connection  that  the  woman's  work 
in  Brazil  has  largely  broken  down  the  prejudice  of  Roman 
Catholics  against  our  schools.  Your  women  have  exercised  good 
judgment;  they  have  made  few  mistakes;  and  the  sensible  Bra- 
zilian of  to-day  recognizes  that  his  daughter  can  be  sent  to  no 
better  place  to  receive  instruction  than  to  one  of  our  Protestant 
schools. 

And  permit  me,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  prejudice  is  not  what  you  would  expect  it  to  be  in 
Brazil.  Largely,  the  people  are  in  our  favor.  Nine-tenths  of 
the  educated  people  of  Brazil  are  the  friends  of  the  Protestants. 
They  have  seen  Romanism  as  Romanism  is  in  a  Roman  Catholic 
country,  and  they  have  become  tired  of  it.  After  being  in  Brazil 
some  four  or  five  years,  I  thought  that  the  Brazilians  were  skep- 
tical, and  I  at  once  rushed  to  the  conclusion:  "Why,  the  French 
lesson  is  to  be  repeated  here  in  Brazil." 

We  no  longer  have  a  Church  of  State;  but  the  intelligent 
classes  are  driven  from  the  Church  into  infidelity  and  into  athe- 
ism. And  permit  me  to  say  that  Roman  Catholicism  is  a  thou- 
sand times  better  than  skepticism.  [Applause.]  But  I  soon  dis- 
covered that  the  men  I  thought  skeptical  were  not  skeptical  at 
all,  but  had  faith  in  God;  but  they  had  no  faith  in  the  work  of 
the  Church.  And  they  watched  the  missionaries  as  we  watch 
a  spy.  And  the  eyes  of  the  thousands  of  people  of  Brazil  are 
on  us  as  the  representatives  of  the  cross  in  a  way  that  they  are 
fixed  on  no  others  in  society. 

I  am  glad  that  it  is  that  way.  I  am  glad  that  our  lives,  if  we 
would  have  them  what  we  would  make  them,  have  to  be  lived 
under  the  white  light  of  such  an  examination.  They  look  for 
faults;  if  they  find  no  faults,  they  give  themselves  to  Christ.  In 
other  words,  the  people  do  not  study  the  Bible;  but  they  do 
study  the  representatives  of  the  cross.  And  what  we  are,  that 
is  what  the  people  think  can  be  done  by  the  gospel  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

I  sometimes  tremble.  I  sometimes  feel  a  weakness  and  de- 
spair that  it  should  be  so.  But  many  a  time  has  the  very  thought 
that  the  eyes  of  the  Brazilian  are  fixed  on  my  life  led  me  to 
do  my  duty  in  a  way  that  it  would  never  have  been  done  had  I 
been  working  in  the  United  States,  where  the  little  things  of 


brazil:  a  bugle  call  to  victory.  205 

life  are  passed  over  unnoticed.  But  it  is  not  that  way  in  a 
country  like  Brazil.  Your  every  action  is  weighed.  Your  every 
word  is  listened  to.  And  they  form  their  ideas  of  the  Christian 
religion  by  the  life  you  lead.  If  it  is  a  godly  life,  men  have 
godly  ideas.  If  the  life  maker  is  not  up  to  the  standard  of  the 
Christ  of  Christianity,  people  have  wrong  ideas  of  our  religion. 
I  regret  that  it  is  that  way  for  the  present.  The  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  the  people  shall  read  their  Bibles,  and  when  they 
shall  form  their  ideas  of  religion  not  from  our  lives,  but  from 
the  true  record  as  given  in  the  Gospel. 

Now,  one  word  in  regard  to  our  publishing  interests  in  the  city 
of  Rio.  For  years  we  have  published  our  Christian  papers. 
We  have  our  Sunday  School  Review,  we  have  our  literature  for 
the  children  in  the  Sabbath  schools,  our  juvenile  papers,  and  all 
that ;  but  we  want  to  reach  out.  We  want  to  get  up  on  a  higher 
plane;  we  want  to  do  more  for  the  intelligent  classes  of  Brazil; 
we  wish  to  do  more  for  our  own  people. 

And  I  state  here  to-day  that  there  has  been  a  mention  that 
other  fields  are  so  great  that  we,  as  a  mission,  cannot  expect 
much  from  our  Board.  But  O,  you  laymen  are  marshaling 
around  the  cross  of  Christ  in  this  movement !  Every  missionary 
in  the  foreign  field  takes  a  new  inspiration.  He  is  ready  for 
the  fight.  There  is  a  new  power  upon  us  to-day,  and  we  can 
enter  the  battle  with  more  faith,  with  a  greater  hope,  and  our 
disposition  is  such  that  we  can  love  the  men  and  women  we  are 
working  for  as  we  have  never  loved  them  before.     [Applause.] 

Now,  our  publishing  interests  in  Rio  demand  your  attention. 
Think  of  it!  in  Brazil,  with  over  twenty-two  per  cent  of  the 
people  knowing  how  to  read  and  write,  with  only  one  Church, 
and  with  a  publishing  plant  that  is  not  comparable  to  the  others 
in  that  great  republic,  we  should  take  the  lead  as  Southern 
Methodists.  We  should  have  an  excellent  publishing  plant  in 
the  city  of  Rio.  We  should  publish  our  own  literature.  We 
should  publish  our  own  books.  Year  after  year  we  have  manu- 
scripts to  come  in  on  us,  and  sometimes  we  send  them  to  Nash- 
ville, but  our  Missionary  Secretaries  keep  them  for  years.  We 
haven't  the  means  to  publish  them  here.  We  rarely  ever  have  a 
Brazilian  on  the  ground  to  go  over  the  manuscripts  in  this  work. 

In  carrying  the  gospel  to  strangers  you  must  carry  it  pure 


206  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

and  complete  and  perfect.  We  do  not  want  mistakes  in  our  lit- 
erature in  Brazil;  for  the  Brazilian  eye  is  open,  and  sometimes 
a  little  error,  sometimes  the  wrong  use  of  a  word,  brings  a  sneer 
of  ridicule  from  the  educated  BraziHan,  and  that  book  is  done 
for ;  it  has  no  circulation.  We  want  the  books  to  be  reviewed  by 
Brazilian  scholars.  We  want  the  printing  done  on  our  own 
presses  and  the  proof-reading  done  not  by  our  own  representa- 
tives, but  by  educated  Brazilians. 

We  wish  to  go  to  the  people  prepared  thoroughly  for  the 
work  that  is  before  us;  but  our  publishing  plant  certainly  is 
not  adequate  for  the  work  that  God  intended  us  to  do.  I  throw 
this  thought  out  for  you  laymen  to  think  on.  Now,  isn't  this  a 
"bugle  call  to  victory  ?" 

I  tell  you,  Brazil  is  ready  to  receive  the  gospel,  and  the  only 
reason  that  the  gospel  is  not  received  to-day  in  Brazil  is  that, 
as  Protestant  Christians,  we  have  not  done  what  we  could  have 
done,  and  what  I  believe,  in  the  grace  of  God,  we  will  do  in 
the  future.  Not  only  the  Southern  Methodist  Church,  but  other 
Churches — the  Northern  Presbyterian,  the  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian, the  Southern  Baptist,  the  Protestant  Episcopal — are  already 
working  in  that  land.  But  let  me  tell  you  that  we  are  not  quar- 
reling with  one  another  as  Christians;  but  we  are  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  working  together  to  plant  the  cross  of  Christ  in  the 
land  of  the  Southern  Cross,  and  we  are  going  to  do  it.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

You  hear  no  uncertain  sounds  from  our  representatives  of 
any  of  our  Mission  Boards  in  Brazil.  We  are  hopeful;  we  are 
looking  at  the  bright  side  of  the  picture.  But  do  not  think  for 
a  minute  that  we  do  not  have  our  hardships,  that  we  do  not  see 
the  dark  side.  We  do.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  so  much 
more  to  hope  for,  and  the  pleasure  is  so  much  greater  in  doing 
what  we  have  the  power  to  do,  in  doing  the  work  of  Christ, 
that  we  think  not  of  these  things.  We  look  at  the  bright  side 
of  the  picture,  and  that  is  the  way  to  do  the  work.  [Great  ap- 
plause.] 


XVI. 
CUBA :  ON  THE  FIRING  LINE. 


Cuba  must  be  evangelized.  This  work  is  being  pushed  with  might  and 
main.  She  has  turned  from  Romanism  and  stands  on  the  threshold  of 
materialism  and  general  indiflference,  and  challenges  evangelical  America. 
Such  a  challenge  must  fire  the  heart  of  every  Christian.  We  offered  to 
buy  places  in  the  ranks  of  the  army  that  went  over  to  battle  for  Cuba's 
political  freedom.  Shall  we  now  fail  to  come  to  the  front  to  do  battle  for 
the  reason  of  the  faith  that  is  within  us?  Were  there  no  other  reason  for 
organized,  energetic,  and  immediate  reenforcement  of  our  forces  in  Cuba 
and  throughout  Latin  America,  all-sufficient  would  be  the  fact  that  these 
countries  and  Anglo-Saxon  America  are  coming  together  at  a  rate  of 
speed  that  is  astounding.  Reference  to  consular  reports  will  convince  any 
one  of  this  fact — that  we  are  perhaps  facing  the  most  serious  problem  we 
have  yet  known.  Of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  people  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  sixty  millions  are  Latin-American ;  of  the  twelve  mil- 
lion square  miles  of  American  territory,  nine  millions  are  Latin-American. 
The  center  of  population  is  moving  South ;  emigration  is  changing  from 
the  West  to  the  South.  Its  vast  forests  of  timber  lands  and  the  fabulous 
wealth  of  its  minerals  are  luring  on  the  people  of  the  North.  The  North 
in  turn  has  attractions  for  the  Latin  Americans;  they  are  coming  to  our 
borders  faster  than  we  can  appreciate.  As  our  people  turn  to  these  coun- 
tries, frightful  are  the  evidences  that  Christless,  Sabbathless,  immoral, 
rum-sodden  Latin  America  may  be  the  tomb  of  our  boasted  morality. 
There  is  something  in  the  glamour  of  the  unbridled  vice  of  these  coun- 
tries that  too  often  proves  fatal  to  the  sons  of  the  North.  Religious  life- 
saving  stations  should  be  established  immediately,  all  the  way  from  the 
Rio  Grande  on  the  north  to  Tierra  del  Fuego  on  the  south. 
(208) 


XVI. 
CUBA:   ON  THE   FIRING  LINE. 

REV.    W.    G.    FLETCHER. 

In  the  year  1898  the  American  people, 
convinced  that  Spain's  cup  of  iniquity  in 
the  Western  Hemisphere  had  been  filled, 
caused  their  President  to  declare  that  Cuba 
was  and  of  a  right  ought  to  be  free  and 
independent.  This  declaration  was  backed 
by  the  combined  material  and  moral 
strength  of  the  people  unto  whose  ears 
had  come  Cuba's  oft-repeated  cry  for  free- 
dom. From  a  reunited  people  the  call  for 
troops  was  answered.  Sons  of  every  State 
in  the  Union  rushed  to  the  front.  Rapid 
and  heavy  were  the  strokes  of  the  young  giant  of  the  West,  and 
in  less  than  a  hundred  days  the  mediaeval  shackles  had  been  struck 
from  the  last  of  Spain's  colonies  in  the  New  World. 

For  a  century  Cuba's  path  had  been  strewn  with  the  corpses  of 
both  her  own  sons  and  the  sons  of  other  countries  who  had  dared 
raise  voice  and  strength  against  Spanish  injustice.  It  is  true  that 
historians  have  not  as  yet  classed  Cuba's  struggle  for  liberty  with 
those  of  some  other  lands;  but  if  voluntary  personal  sufferings 
and  sacrifices  mean  anything,  Cuba  may  justly  claim  for  her 
patriots  the  admiration  of  the  whole  world.  They  sealed  with 
death  in  a  thousand  private  executions  and  public  encounters 
their  protest  against  the  Spanish  policy  of  plunder  and  barbarism, 
and  saw  in  those  shameless  outrages  the  harbinger  of  a  better 
day  for  the  land  they  loved,  calling  to  the  world  to  witness  the 
justice  of  their  claim.  The  heroism  of  these  unheralded  martyrs 
is  not  to  be  despised  by  the  sons  of  the  men  who  echoed  the  cry : 
"Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death !" 

The  breaking  of  the  bonds  of  political  oppression  was  merely 
the  first  step  in  the  work  of  truly  liberating  that  unhappy  island. 
Its  liberators  faced  possibly  the  most  serious  sanitary  problem 
14  (209) 


2IO  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

that  man  ever  attempted  to  solve.  The  lowering  of  the  Spanish 
flag  marked  the  beginning  of  a  terrific  struggle  with  giants  of 
filth,  poverty,  and  disease.  The  work  of  sanitation,  resuscitation, 
and  rehabilitation  was  begun,  aided  by  such  acts  of  national  and 
individual  benevolence  as  have  never  been  equaled.  In  order  that 
the  thousands  of  suflPering  ones  might  be  fed,  housed,  and  healed, 
shiploads  of  supplies  were  hurried  south,  and  with  lavish  hand 
destitute  Cuban  and  Spaniard  were  cared  for  without  reference 
to  political  opinion.  Within  two  years  towns  and  cities  of  pro- 
verbial reputation  for  uncleanliness,  where  yellow  fever  had  held 
high  carnival  for  centuries,  were  converted  into  semitropical  win- 
ter resorts.  Prisons  were  not  only  cleared  of  their  victims,  who 
had  waited  years  for  trial,  but  were  renovated  and  remodeled. 
Hospitals  that  had  been  the  reverse  of  what  such  institutions  are 
supposed  to  be  were  equipped  with  the  best  of  modern  materials 
and  appliances.  The  public  school  system  that  had  been  a  dis- 
grace even  to  the  Spanish  carpetbagger  government  was  reor- 
ganized, modernly  equipped,  and  given  an  appropriation  of  four 
million  dollars.  Credit  and  commercial  standing  were  restored, 
and  the  young  republic  entered  upon  a  career  of  prosperity  that 
was  to  astonish  the  world.  The  political  conditions  that  shocked 
the  world  were  nothing  to  be  compared  with  the  sanitary  condi- 
tions that  were  found  to  prevail  throughout  the  island ;  nor  were 
these  to  be  mentioned  in  the  same  breath  with  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious abandonment  that  was  revealed.  A  faint  idea  is  given  by 
saying  that  it  was  a  case  of  effete  Romanism  ministered  by  a 
priesthood  utterly  devoid  of  any  standard  of  morality. 

Many  an  American  Roman  Catholic  has  blushed  for  shame 
when  brought  face  to  face  with  some  of  even  the  minor  evidences 
of  the  moral  degradation  of  Cuba's  priesthood.  The  very  founda- 
tions of  reverence  had  been  swept  away  by  the  tide  of  the  profli- 
gacy of  the  corrupt  carpetbagger  priesthood.  The  confessionals 
were  dark  with  the  blood  of  Cuban  patriots.  In  the  Cuban  heart 
this  so-called  "Christianity"  had  been  abolished;  it  had  become  a 
menace  to  society.  A  shocking  per  cent  of  the  people  were  with- 
out names  for  the  reason  that  exorbitant  prices  had  been  put 
upon  matrimony,  although  the  rite  was  declared  a  sacrament.  The 
lot  of  the  living  was  to  support  this  parasite  fastened  upon  them 
by  law ;  upon  the  dying  were  attached  the  horrors  of  purgatory. 
No  informed  person  will  deny  that  for  centuries  Cuba  was  plun- 


CUBA:   ON   THE   FIRING   LINE  211 

dered  by  Rome.  Every  known  means  of  extorting  money  was 
practiced.  Tlie  altars  of  pretended  blessing  were  turned  into  a 
means  of  destroying  the  foundation  of  society  and  government — 
the  home.  Children  were  denied  a  name,  but  were  taxed  in 
birth,  taxed  in  life,  and  given  purgatory  as  an  inheritance  in  death. 

Cuba  became  Protestant  at  heart  long  ago.  Her  thinking  peo- 
ple said:  "If  this  be  the  revelation  of  God  to  the  world,  we  will 
reject  it  and  take  our  chances;  we  will  choose  in  favor  of  legiti- 
mate homes  and  educated  children."  This  class  turned  to  Renan, 
Voltaire,  and  others  of  the  kind ;  the  ignorant  toiled  on  in  slavish 
fear,  but  sullen  protest.  Cuba's  protest  was  founded  on  and  sus- 
tained by  French  infidelity.  Is  it  not  strange  that  evangelical 
America  did  not  furnish  this  unhappy  people  the  basis  for  their 
protest  against  the  oppression  and  corruption  of  the  Romish 
Church  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  have  seemed  to  be  rather  amused 
at  the  spasmodic  efforts  of  these  people  in  grasping  for  the  Light. 
For  a  century  we  have  let  them  move  on  toward  the  doom  of  a 
people  who  know  not  God,  little  thinking  that  in  our  unconcern 
we  might  be  hewing  out  the  sepulcher  for  the  hope  of  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere — evangelical  Christianity. 

Of  the  dozen  Latin-American  republics,  not  one  is  free. 
Their  political  freedom  was  only  the  first  step  toward  that  point. 
When  the  single-starred  banner  that  Carlos  Manuel  de  Cespedes 
flung  to  the  breeze  in  1868  had  at  last  been  recognized,  not  as  a 
belligerents'  banner,  but  as  the  emblem  of  a  newborn  nation,  and 
Cuba's  sons  were  shouting  "Viva  Cuba  libre !"  Cuba  was  not 
free,  as  a  matter  of  fact.  The  soul  of  war  was  gone;  her  fight 
for  independence  had  been  won;  it  was  certain  she  would  never 
again  feel  the  hand  of  Spanish  oppression ;  but  she  was  not  free. 
She  was  still  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  the  bond  of  iniquity. 
The  fight  for  her  freedom  was  still  to  be  made,  not  against  flesh 
and  blood,  but  against  the  powers  and  principalities  of  unright- 
eousness. 

While  the  ravages  of  a  most  inhuman  warfare  were  still  wast- 
ing the  land,  before  starvation  had  been  checked,  while  pestilence 
walked  at  noonday  and  yellow  fever  was  striking  down  its  victims 
in  the  parks  and  streets,  attention  was  being  given  to  plans  for 
the  campaign  that  was  to  bring  Cuba  into  real  liberty — the  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  makes  free.  Amid  this  danger  and  desolation 
the  standard  of  Methodism  was  planted  and  our  great  Church 


212  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

called  upon  for  men  and  means  tg  sustain  it.  Less  than  ten  years 
have  passed,  but  Methodism  is  to-day  established  in  its  own  quar- 
ters in  each  of  the  six  provincial  capitals  and  in  all  of  the  first-  and 
second-class  towns,  and  even  in  the  villages  and  country 
districts  of  some  provinces;  she  owns  above  two  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars'  worth  of  property,  a  fair  per  cent  of  which  was  raised 
on  the  field ;  she  has  four  day  schools,  in'  which  are  being  trained 
hundreds  of  Cuba's  brightest  youths ;  she  has  three  thousand  mem- 
bers and  more  than  a  thousand  candidates.  The  fact  of  signal 
success  should  be  cause  of  renewed  effort  till  the  entire  country 
is  not  only  evangelized  but  thoroughly  Christianized.  There  are 
the  strongest  of  reasons  why  we  should  build  in  Havana  a  church 
and  college  in  keeping  with  our  needs  and  ability.  That  city  has 
a  population  equal  to  that  of  Georgia's  five  largest  cities  com- 
bined ;  but  the  best  we  have  been  able  to  secure  for  the  first  and 
only  Methodist  church  of  this  great  Babylon  is  a  hall  upstairs. 
Our  college  should  be  equipped  for  the  preparation  of  Cuban 
workers  and  the  education  of  the  ever-increasing  number  of 
American  children  of  the  capital  city. 

Cuba  must  be  evangelized.  This  work  is  being  pushed  with 
might  and  main.  She  has  turned  from  Romanism  and  stands  on 
the  threshold  of  materialism  and  general  indifference,  and  chal- 
lenges evangelical  America.  Such  a  challenge  must  fire  the  heart 
of  every  Christian.  We  offered  to  buy  places  in  the  ranks  of  the 
army  that  went  over  to  battle  for  Cuba's  political  freedom.  Shall 
we  now  fail  to  come  to  the  front  to  do  battle  for  the  reason  of 
the  faith  that  is  within  us?  Were  there  no  other  reason  for  or- 
ganized, energetic,  and  immediate  reenforcement  of  our  forces  in 
Cuba  and  throughout  Latin  America,  all-sufiicient  would  be  the 
fact  that  these  countries  and  Anglo-Saxon  America  are  coming 
together  at  a  rate  of  speed  that  is  astounding.  Reference  to  con- 
sular reports  will  convince  any  one  of  this  fact — that  we  are 
perhaps  facing  the  most  serious  problem  we  have  yet  known.  Of 
the  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  people  in  the  Western  Hem- 
isphere, sixty  millions  are  Latin- American ;  of  the  twelve  million 
square  miles  of  American  territory,  nine  millions  are  Latin-Amer- 
ican. The  center  of  population  is  moving  South ;  emigration  is 
changing  from  the  West  to  the  South.  Its  vast  forests  of  timber 
lands  and  the  fabulous  wealth  of  its  minerals  are  luring  on  the 
people  of  the  North.    The  North  in  turn  has  attractions  for  the 


CtJBA:  oisr  the  firing  liNe.  41$ 

Latin  Americans ;  they  are  coming  to  our  borders  faster  than  we 
can  appreciate.  As  our  people  turn  to  these  countries,  frightful 
are  the  evidences  that  Christless,  Sabbathless,  immoral,  rum-sod- 
den Latin  America  may  be  the  tomb  of  our  boasted  morality. 
There  is  something  in  the  glamour  of  the  unbridled  vice  of  these 
countries  that  too  often  proves  fatal  to  the  sons  of  the  North. 
Religious  life-saving  stations  should  be  established  immediately, 
all  the  way  from  the  Rio  Grande  on  the  north  to  Tierra  del  Fuego 
on  the  south. 

A  tottering  wreck  of  what  had  once  been  a  splendid  business 
man  stood  one  morning  in  Santiago  de  Cuba  under  a  sign  that 
read  "Iglesia  Metodista,"  and  said  with  broken  voice:  "If  this 
sign  had  hung  here  five  years  ago,  I  should  not  be  to-day  return- 
ing to  the  States  on  a  charity  ticket  to  die  a  pauper's  death.  This 
sign  would  have  called  up  memories  of  home,  mother,  and  right- 
eousness. Why,"  continued  the  poor  fellow,  "does  not  the 
Church  look  after  us  fellows  as  do  the  beer  concerns  ?"  An  alarm- 
ing per  cent  of  your  sons  are  making  moral  shipwreck  on  the 
shores  just  to  the  south  of  you.  To  stay  the  tidal  wave  south- 
ward is  utterly  impossible ;  wealth,  adventure,  riches,  and  romance 
are  calling.  A  clash  of  character  is  inevitable  and  near  at  hand. 
We  have  underestimated  conditions  in  the  South.  We  congratu- 
late ourselves  upon  our  stability,  prosperity,  and  general  worth 
as  we  think  of  the  spring,  summer,  and  fall  revolutions  that  rend 
these  Latin-American  countries  and  discredit  them  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  We  say :  "What  a  pity  that  they  are  not  of  our 
blood !"  O  slow  of  heart  are  we  to  read  the  fact  that  these  dis- 
graceful, destructive  conditions  have  their  origin  in  moral  un- 
rest and  religious  poverty  and  uncertainty ! 

Take  notice  that  Latin  America  has  invaded  our  borders  and 
that  one  colony,  though  it  numbers  less  than  one  thousand,  is  to-day 
dictating  terms  to  the  strongest  city  in  one  of  our  Southern  States, 
saying:  "If  you  allow  your  State  to  go  for  prohibition,  we  will 
ruin  you  financially."  The  Associated  Press  dispatches  say  that 
the  representative  citizens  of  that  city  have  pledged  themselves 
to  sustain  the  immoral  contention  of  this  colony.  If  we  cannot 
cope  with  this  force  within  our  own  borders,  where  the  best  of 
influences  prevail,  what  can  be  expected  of  us  when  we  attempt 
to  stem  the  current  in  a  land  seemingly  devoid  of  moral  con- 
science?   The  strange  fact  is  that  while  Anglo-Saxon  America 


214  '^^E  OPPORTUNITY. 

feels  itself  so  eminently  superior  to  Latin  America,  yet  she  readi- 
ly falls  into  its  vices,  is  not  only  affected  by  its  infidelity,  skepti- 
cism, materialism,  and  general  indifference  to  religion,  but  imme- 
diately begins  to  participate  in  its  debauchery  that  destroys  mind, 
soul,  and  body.  We  are  wont  to  speculate  and  discuss  at  length 
the  "yellow  peril"  and  appear  greatly  agitated  over  affairs  in  the 
"chrysanthemum  kingdom,"  with  our  backs  to  a  cloud  rising  out 
of  the  south  pregnant  with  tempests,  on  whose  wings  are  riding 
the  furies  of  moral  destruction.  The  great  question  is:  "Shall 
we  save  Latin  America  or  be  ruined  by  it?"  It  is  but  madness 
to  say  that  our  religious  principles  are  too  deeply  rooted  not  to 
be  able  to  withstand  it.  The  absolute,  unvarnished  truth  is  that 
our  people  are  not  withstanding  the  pressure  brought  to  bear, 
nor  will  they  be  able  to  maintain  their  integrity  in  these  morally 
diseased  countries  unless  reenforced  by  the  very  same  and  only 
safeguards  that  sustain  them  here.  Our  civilization  itself  is  in 
danger  of  being  wrecked  on  a  sea  that  has  flowed  from  an  effete 
Romanism.  A  long,  sad  role  of  the  victims,  some  of  them  the 
very  flower  of  our  civilization,  show  that  our  people  are  in  great 
danger  when  subjected  to  the  alluring  temptations  so  abundant 
in  those  not  far-distant  Southern  lands. 

The  ever-growing  number  of  tourists  so  far  forget  themselves 
as  to  make  a  doer  of  righteousness  in  Cuba  cry  out:  "From  the 
American  tourist,  O  Lord,  deliver  us !"  Some  of  them  are  a 
blessing  to  the  missions;  but  the  great  majority  seem  to  think 
that  the  "narrow  sea,  like  death,  divides  this  heavenly  land  from 
ours,"  and,  feeling  relieved  from  all  restraint,  enter  upon  the  most 
questionable  conduct. 

There  is  no  time  for  a  theoretical  discussion  of  gospel  work  in 
Cuba  and  the  other  Latin-American  countries.  "But  what  can  be 
done?"  we  are  constantly  asked.  "Is  it  not  difficult  to  persviade 
a  people  who  have  been  reared  under  vitiated  Romanism  ?"  "Has 
not  Rome  compromised  with  the  pagan  rites  and  customs  of  these 
Latin  countries,  producing  a  condition  of  affairs  harder  to  deal 
with  than  either  paganism  or  Romanism?"  The  latter  of  these 
questions  must  be  answered  in  the  affirmative.  But  the  opening 
wedge  is  to  be  found  in  the  countries  where  sin  has  overreached 
itself.  All  the  people  will  not  be  fooled  or  oppressed  always.  In 
guarded  rooms  Cuba's  sons  years  ago  began  to  hold  privy  coun- 
cils over  the  political  and  religious  state  of  affairs.     The  result 


CUBA:   ON    THE    FIRING   LINE.  21$ 

was  the  rejection  of  Romanism  and  a  declaration  that  led  ulti- 
mately to  their  national  independence.  In  this  land  at  our  very- 
door,  where  baptized  paganism  fell  of  its  own  weight,  is  offered 
us  a  rare  opportunity.  There  we  may  almost  without  let  or  hin- 
drance evangelize  and  prepare  workers  for  other  fields  of  the 
kind. 

The  powers  of  the  commercial  world  are  being  brought  to  bear 
to  turn  the  trade  of  these  countries  from  European  ports  to  our 
own.  A  glance  at  the  South  American  consular  reports  is  suffi- 
cient to  convince  one  that  their  efforts  are  meeting  with  success. 
Commerce  to-day  between  Cuba  and  New  York  is  a  thousand 
times  greater  than  between  New  York  and  some  of  our  own 
Southern  States.  The  answer  to  our  former  question,  "How  shall 
we  evangelize  Latin  America?"  may  be  found  in  the  success  of 
the  commercial  world  there.  Until  recent  years  our  commercial 
houses  sent  out  shopworn  goods,  sent  out  by  second-rate  repre- 
sentatives, often  men  in  search  of  health,  who,  after  utter  failure 
in  competing  with  Europe's  picked  men  who  knew  conditions  and 
were  prepared  to  meet  them,  came  back  crying:  "Nothing  can  be 
done.  Behold,  the  sons  of  Anak  inhabit  the  land !"  On  the  con- 
trary, from  the  time  that  first-class  goods,  properly  packed  and 
shipped,  were  offered  by  first-class  men,  the  trade  began  to  grow 
by  leaps  and  bounds. 

A  cheap  or  compromising  gospel,  doled  out  by  shopworn 
preachers,  will  never  command  a  hearing  in  Latin  America.  A 
"half  loaf"  missionary  in  Cuba  is  worse  than  none  at  all.  To  at- 
tempt to  run  a  mission  there  with  anything  save  the  old-time  reli- 
gion, preached  by  such  men  as  cannot  possibly  be  spared  from 
the  home  land,  is  a  sinful  waste  of  money.  In  the  not  very  dis- 
tant past  a  missionary  was  pictured  as  a  gaunt,  resigned,  pecul- 
iarly attired,  cadaverous-looking  individual,  standing  under  a 
palm  tree  on  some  wind-swept  isle,  handing  out  tracts  to  a  mob 
of  howling  savages  who  would  soon  pick  his  unhappy  bones  and 
wear  them  for  hair  ornaments.  This  conception  was  followed  by 
one  equally  erroneous  to  the  effect  that  a  halo  around  his  head 
is  always  visible ;  that  once  he  sets  foot  on  foreign  shore  to  declare 
the  gospel  to  those  who  know  it  not,  he  has  to  give  no  further 
attention  to  his  own  spiritual  welfare ;  that  he  is  always  in  a  shout- 
ing mood;  that  he  is  especially  cared  for  by  detailed  angels  and 
has  a  private  wire  on  heaven.    Now,  the  solemn  fact  is  that  so 


2l6  THE   OPPORTUNITV. 

trying,  vexing,  and  numerous  are  the  problems  that  confront  one, 
such  and  so  heavy  in  every  sense  of  the  word  are  daily  demands 
on  him,  that  only  the  strongest  physiques,  the  best-trained  minds, 
and  the  bravest  and  most  consecrated  hearts  should  be  sent  out. 
Missionary  posts  are  not  health  resorts. 

If  a  man  for  any  reason  can  be  spared  from  the  home  land, 
don't  send  him  to  Cuba.  The  places  and  conditions  that  try  men's 
souls  in  connection  with  the  work  are  not  all  passed  yet.  The 
Cuban  Mission  is  full  of  them,  and  a  man  works  there  under  the 
same  conditions  and  human  limitations  that  he  would  here.  To 
succeed  he  must  be  statesman,  prophet,  beast  of  burden,  dove  of 
peace,  captain  of  industry,  orator,  and  diplomat.  He  must  have 
grace,  grit,  greenbacks,  gall,  and  gumption.  A  sentimental  "hope 
so"  kind  of  being  armed  with  some  patent  "get-good-quick-in-my- 
style"  theory  can  only  hope  for  dismal  defeat.  O  that  Cuba  might 
be  spared  the  scourge  of  "long-haired  men  and  short-haired  wom- 
en"— venders  of  religious  quackeries!  But  given  a  worker  who 
combines  all  the  personal  qualifications  possible  by  nature  and 
acquisition,  and  still  there  is  one  thing  lacking — i.  e.,  a  stand  for 
his  wares,  if  you  please.  The  wise  commercial  house  sends  out 
not  only  the  best  goods,  intrusted  to  men  of  capability  and  con- 
science, but  provides  ample  means  for  display  and  advantageous 
introduction.  The  best  of  goods  displayed  in  a  third-rate,  smoky 
boarding  house  would  stand  little  chance  of  winning  favor.  Any 
success  would  be  at  the  expense  of  time  and  arduous  labor  on 
the  part  of  the  representative.  Such  a  course  would  be  manifestly 
the  poorest  possible  business  policy.  The  children  of  the  busi- 
ness world  are  in  their  generation  wiser  than  the  children  of  light. 
They  see  to  it  that  their  goods  are  given  a  setting  that  is  even 
more  attractive  than  the  goods  themselves,  because  it  pays;  it 
saves  time,  it  saves  money.  We  may  say  all  we  like  about  the 
attractive  power  of  the  gospel — that  it  depends  not  on  human  con- 
ditions for  success,  that  the  gospel  preached  with  power  and  dem- 
onstration of  the  Spirit  will  win  its  way — and  still  the  half  will  not 
have  been  told  of  the  wonders  of  redeeming  love.  But  is  it  wise 
to  withhold  our  means  and  leave  the  gospel  to  win  its  way  against 
the  odds  we  might  remove  by  the  stroke  of  a  pen?  Is  it  fair  to 
the  man  who  binds  himself  in  exile  to  do  your  bidding  to  force 
him  to  wear  himself  out  in  dreary  years  of  the  hardest  drudgery, 
overcoming  difficulties  that  you  could  remove  in  an  instant?    If 


79  H 


CUBA 


SHOWING  MISSION  STATIONS  OF  THE 

M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

Engraved  Especially  for  the  Board  of  .Missions 
by 


E.  M.  GARDNER  <S  SOS.   Nashville,  Teiin. 


CUBA:    ON    THE    FIRING   LINE.  21/ 

a  thousand  dollars  will  do  the  work  to-day  that  five  thousand  will 
one  year  hence,  is  it  not  wise  to  put  in  that  five  thousand  to-day 
and  let  it  do  the  work  of  twenty-five  thousand  ultimately  ?  But  the 
work  will  be  done ;  it  must  be  done ;  it  is  being  done.  Cuba  will 
yet  be  free.  Methodism  is  firmly  rooted  there.  In  the  event  of 
some  catastrophe  that  would  cut  off  all  supplies  of  both  men  and 
money  from  the  North,  the  work  would  go  ahead. 

But  sometimes  the  question  arises  in  the  minds  of  the  mission- 
aries :  "What  will  become  of  a  Church  that  commands  its  men  to 
make  'brick  without  straw'  when  the  straw  is  piled  high  in  the 
home  land?"  Our  three  thousand  members  are  paying  one  hun- 
dred cents  on  the  dollar  of  a  heavy  assessment  for  self-support 
and  Church  extension.  The  banner  of  Methodism  flung  to  the 
breeze  amid  the  death  and  desolation  of  '98  shall  not  be  furled. 
This  statement  is  backed  by  three  thousand  members,  a  thousand 
probationers,  a  host  of  sympathizers,  and  some  missionaries  as  ef- 
ficient and  consecrated  as  ever  crossed  the  seas.  At  the  present 
outlay  of  men  and  money  the  island  will  be  evangelized,  but  not 
Christianized,  which  is  quite  a  different  thing,  calling  for  time, 
efficient  work,  and  patience.  We  are  winning  out  in  old  residences 
converted  into  chapels.  Business  men  will  readily  see  that  suc- 
cess would  crown  our  efforts  with  a  great  saving  of  time  and 
money  in  more  suitable  quarters.  The  fact  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  Roman  skill  in  architecture  has  exhausted  itself  in  the 
construction  of  churches  in  Latin  America.  We  need  to  under- 
stand that  with  these  people  appearances  mean  everything.  It 
is  especially  true  of  these  countries  that  the  better  the  appearances 
the  more  decided  the  success,  the  better  the  class  of  people  we  are 
able  to  reach.  It  is  true  "one  man  is  as  good  as  another ;"  but  the 
higher  we  strike  in  mission  work,  the  sooner  are  we  able  to  evan- 
gelize a  town,  province,  or  nation. 

Our  response  to  the  call  in  Cuba  has  been  more  generous  than 
for  other  fields.  We  have  spent  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars 
there  in  less  than  ten  years ;  but  American  beer  concerns  spent  a 
million  in  only  a  few  months  after  the  war,  and  are  satisfied  with 
their  returns.  The  question  of  the  evangelization  of  all  Latin 
America  will  be  largely  ansv/ered  in  Cuba.  An  intensive  policy 
has  been  adopted. 

Reports  from  one  district  last  year  showed  an  increase  of  near- 
ly a  hundred  per  cent  in  membership  and  an  average  contribution 


2l8  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

of  $17.10  per  member.  Three  churches  and  a  parsonage  were 
built  with  funds  raised  on  the  field.  We  come  not  to  tell  you 
of  an  "open  door"  and  of  what  could  be  done  if  we  only  had  men 
and  means;  we  come  with  the  stirring  message  that  the  whole 
side  of  the  house  dropped  out  and  we  went  in,  and  that  our  glo- 
rious gospel  is  repeating  its  record  of  liberation. 

Cuba,  though  rich  in  romance,  dark  with  four  centuries  of  trag- 
edy, and  fraught  with  unbounded  possibilities  for  good  or  evil, 
is  not  unlike  her  score  of  sister  republics.  Christ  has  been  laid 
away  in  the  tomb  of  paganism  and  the  door  piled  high  with  the 
stones  of  superstition  and  compromises.  He  has  to  be  resurrect- 
ed ;  he  must  come  into  a  new  heritage  as  Latin  America  proclaims 
her  living  Lord.  Thus  shall  the  land  of  our  fathers  be  saved  from 
an  impending  calamity ;  and  instead  of  being  ruined  by  those 
countries,  she  will  have  saved  them.  There  our  Lord  has  lain  for 
centuries  as  surely  buried  as  when  he  lay  in  the  tomb  of  Joseph 
of  Arimathea.  The  citadels  about  his  sepulcher  must  be  taken; 
the  stones  must  be  rolled  away — not  by  angel  hands.  This  honor 
belongs  to  your  sons;  but  as  they  go  forth  as  modern  crusaders, 
not  to  wrench  the  empty  tomb  from  infidels,  but  to  liberate  the 
reburied  Christ,  Cuba  Methodism  is~-mustering  her  forces;  and 
when  the  assaults  are  being  made  and  the  walls  stormed,  above  the 
din  and  roar  of  battle  a  friendly  note  shall  be  heard ;  and  as  the 
souls  of  the  crusaders,  struggling  with  the  fury  of  despair  against 
the  walls  that  encircled  the  empty  tomb,  were  fired  to  almost 
superhuman  effort  and  immediate  success  by  the  sound  of  God- 
frey's silver  bugles  ringing  over  the  desert  air,  so  shall  your  sons 
be  quickened  by  Cuban  allies. 

In  that  unfortunate  island  a  thousand  superstitions  must  be 
buried,  the  hosts  of  darkness  slain  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
and  in  this  work  more  than  one  man  must  lie  down  to  sleep  by 
the  summer  seas  that  gird  the  unhappy  isle.  But  already  the  star 
of  hope  that  shone  above  this  plundered  land  through  its  long, 
dark  night  of  sorrow  begins  to  dim  because  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness is  rising  with  healing  in  his  wings.  The  mountain  peaks 
are  turning  to  burnished  gold,  the  children  in  the  valley  of  op- 
pression are  lifting  their  tear-stained  faces  as  they  hear  the  watch- 
men on  the  towers  calling  them  to  rise  and  put  on  the  garments 
of  righteousness  and  gird  themselves  about,  that  the  day  of  their 
deliverance  has  come. 


XVII. 
MEDICAL  WORK  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


Where  there  are  no  licenses  required  to  practice  medicine,  where  super- 
stition and  gross  ignorance  combine  to  allow  anything  to  be  done  which 
is  dictated  by  the  priest-physician  and  meddlesome  midwife,  where  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  a  healthy  public  opinion,  there  are  the  very  elements 
in  which  the  charlatan  can  flourish  and  pursue  his  abominable  and  nefa- 
rious and  deadly  traffic.  Here  is  far  more  than  mere  cruelty  and  immoral- 
ity; it  is  touching  the  secret  springs  of  a  nation's  life.  If  the  wife  and 
mother  be  degraded,  love  cannot  flourish,  and  the  home  is  blasted;  if  the 
home  is  blasted,  the  national  unit  of  strength  is  destroyed,  and  there  is 
moral  decay.  This  is  exactly  the  sight  with  which  we  are  confronted  in 
China  and  Korea  to-day:  The  sick  and  injured  of  those  lands  are  crushed 
like  pack  ice  between  two  approaching  icebergs.  On  the  one  side  is 
disease,  claiming  from  them  their  life ;  on  the  other,  the  less  agonizing 
attempts  at  treatment.  Their  diagnosis  of  approaching  death  is  none  too 
certain;  so  it  ofteh  happens  that  the  closing  hours  or  days  are  spent  in 
terrible  discomfort  and  pain,  and  the  end  is  hastened  by  shameful  neglect. 
Mentally  contrast  such  scenes  with  those  in  the  home  lands  when  relatives 
and  friends  are  passing  from  us.  Here  all  is  done  in  those  closing  hours 
which  love  and  forethought  can  devise  for  the  amelioration  of  pain  and 
the  quiet  peacefulness  of  the  sick  one;  there  it  is  noise  and  din,  wailing 
and  mourning,  cold  and  neglect,  utter  and  hopeless  darkness. 
(220) 


XVII. 
MEDICAL  WORK  IN  THE  ORIENT. 

DR.  T.  F.  STALEY,  BRISTOL,  TENN. 

As  a  rule,  physicians  are  not  a  success 
as  public  speakers,  and  I  am  no  exception ; 
but  when  the  invitation  was  extended  me 
to  attend  this  Conference  and  say  some- 
thing of  my  impressions  concerning  my 
recent  trip  to  the  Orient  in  company  with 
my  good  friend,  Dr.  Lambuth,  I  consid- 
ered it  my  duty  as  well  as  my  great  pleas- 
ure to  accept  this  opportunity  to  raise 
my  voice  in  behalf  of  missions. 
Emerson  says :  "The  great  crises  of  life  are  not  marriages  and 
deaths,  but  some  afternoon  at  the  turn  of  the  road,  when  your 
life  finds  new  thoughts  and  impulses;  such  crises  occur  as  a  man 
hears  the  strong  crying  of  a  great  need  unrealized  before,  and 
which  he  is  conscious  could  be  met  by  his  own  life  service."  It 
was  thus  that  I  felt  when  the  call  came  to  me  to  go  to  the  Orient 
to  inspect  the  hospitals  and  medical  work  there,  with  the  hope  of 
returning  and  more  widely  interesting  the  medical  men  of  our 
Southland  in  this  great  work,  I  was  impressed  more  and  more 
on  my  recent  visit,  where  I  could  view  the  situation  face  to  face, 
that  our  nation  is  divinely  guided  for  a  divine  purpose. 

I  have  never  feared  that  the  American  physician  would  fail  to 
answer  any  questions  at  home  or  abroad  which  destiny  or  fate 
placed  upon  him,  never  doubted  but  that  he  would  use  his  scien- 
tific knowledge  more  and  more  for  the  betterment  of  all  mankind, 
and  that  the  Orient — yes,  the  entire  world — would  come  to  know 
this  class  of  men  as  one  of  the  mightiest  forces  for  good  on  all 
the  globe. 

We  as  a  Christian  nation  have  much  to  be  proud  of  and  much 
to  be  ashamed  of ;  the  Orient  can  teach  us  much  we  do  not  know, 
and  America  can  give  to  them  those  things  so  essential  to  their 
betterment  and  uplifting  as  nations.    I  could  not  help  but  realize 

(221) 


222  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

on  this  trip  of  opportunity  for  me  that,  with  all  our  money,  our 
homes  scattered  all  over  this  country,  a  free  people  with  every 
luxury  and  enjoyment,  we  would  come  to  realize  that  our  highest 
purpose  is  the  development  of  Christian  character. 

We  have  practically  lost  our  opportunity  to  aid  in  winning 
Japan  to  Christianity  by  medical  science.  There  is  no  longer 
need  of  medical  missions  in  that  empire.  But  must  we  fail  to 
grasp  the  golden  opportunity  in  China  and  Korea  by  failing  to 
go  hand  in  hand  with  the  missionary,  establishing  hospitals  for 
the  care  of  the  sick  and  medical  schools  for  the  education  of  the 
youth  for  such  noble  service  in  their  home  land  ?  It  is  impossible 
for  me  to  picture  to  you  the  great  need  of  this  important  work. 
Nbw  that  the  Japanese  are  in  Korea,  they  will  plant  schools  in 
every  village,  send  out  their  physicians;  and  if  we  do  not  take 
advantage  of  our  opportunities  and  properly  build  and  equip,  our 
Church  will  lose  prestige,  and  we  will  have  the  same  difficulties 
to  face  in  Korea  which  we  face  in  Japan  to-day.  If  the  Japanese 
take  the  lead  in  educational  and  medical  work  in  Korea,  it  will  be 
non-Christian;  worse  than  that,  it  will  be  materialistic  and 
agnostic. 

One  Sunday  morning  last  spring  I  stood  on  a  hill  in  Korea 
overlooking  a  city  of  seventy-five  thousand  people,  where  they 
know  nothing  of  hygiene,  nothing  of  surgery,  nothing  of  asepsis, 
nothing  of  remedies  and  measures  for  the  alleviation  of  pain, 
nothing  of  vaccination,  nothing  of  anti-toxin — nothing  but  sin, 
weakness,  sickness,  uncleanliness — and  I  thought  what  a  great 
privilege  it  would  be  to  start  a  medical  reformation  in  that  great 
city.  And  then  a  few  days  later  I  stood  in  a  city  in  China,  and 
I  saw  under  the  touch  of  the  knife,  in  the  dispensary,  at  the  bed- 
side, the  transforming  forces  brought  about  by  medical  mission- 
aries and  the  masterful  forces  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  through  sym- 
pathy and  tenderness  and  unselfish  devotion  his  life  struck  deep 
into  the  lives  of  those  who  knew  him  not.  China  has  suflFered  from 
famine,  pestilence,  and  disease.  But  this  is  not  all ;  she  has  suffered 
and  is  suffering  from  the  opium  curse,  which  sends  millions  back 
to  despair  and  deeper  heathenism,  has  deprived  helpless  native 
workers  of  all  means  of  support  among  poverty-stricken,  starving 
millions,  and  has  broken  down  one  worker  after  another  who  has 
vainly  starved  himself  or  herself  rather  than  go  without  the  drug. 
But  when  we  realize  that  on  the  same  steamers  on  which  we  sail 


MEDICAL   WORK   IN    THE   ORIENT.  223 

from  San  Francisco  and  Seattle  and  other  Pacific  ports,  on  the 
same  steamers  on  which  our  missionaries  are  sent  to  the 
Orient,  thousands  and  thousands  of  gallons  of  the  white  man's 
rum  are  being  sent  out  there,  we  need  not  be  surprised  if  we  are 
asked:  "Are  there  any  Christians  in  America?"  And  I  tell  you, 
we  will  never  be  able  to  answer  that  question  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Oriental  mind  until  the  majority  of  the  God-loving  and 
God-fearing  men  and  women  in  America  shall  rise  up  and  say 
to  the  world:  "This  damnable  thing  shall  stop!"  [Applause.] 
The  opium  curse  is  everywhere.  The  victims  of  the  habit  must 
have  it  at  all  hazards,  and  no  crime  will  prevent  their  obtaining 
it.  It  is  one  of  the  most  threatening  evils  of  China,  and  indeed 
of  all  sections  of  the  earth  where  it  is  gaining  headway.  In  the 
Soochow  Hospital  I  visited  with  Dr.  Park  a  room  used  exclu- 
sively for  the  treatment  of  those  addicted  to  this  awful  drug. 
These  young  men  occasionally  are  awakened  to  the  realization 
of  what  this  habit  means  to  them,  and  voluntarily,  and  often 
against  the  wishes  of  parents  and  friends,  go  and  ask  Dr.  Park 
to  treat  them  for  the  habit.  In  this  room  they  are  placed  under 
guard;  and  after  a  while,  under  his  scientific  care  and  attention, 
they  are  freed  from  this  terrible  drug  which  is  dethroning  the 
reason  and  sapping  the  lifeblood  out  of  the  youth  of  China. 

We  have  all  heard  of  the  footbinding  in  China  until  it  no  longer 
makes  an  impression  on  our  minds;  but  if  you  could  go  and  see 
one  of  the  native  women  unbind  her  feet,  as  I  did  in  the  Soochow 
Hospital,  and  witness  the  frightful  and  unnatural  deformity 
brought  about  by  superstition,  sin,  and  ignorance,  you  would  re- 
joice at  what  Christianity  and  medical  science  are  doing  for  the 
women  of  China.  How  true  it  is  in  the  Orient  that  when  we  find 
the  hospitals  and  dispensaries  crowded  with  patients,  then  the 
chapels  also  are  crowded,  showing  the  intimate  relationship 
between  the  two !  Many  hospitals  and  dispensaries  are  training 
colleges  for  theoretical  and  practical  instruction  in  Western  medi- 
cine; thus  an  opportunity  is  afforded  of  bringing  the  brightest 
natives  into  a  sphere  of  influence  for  benefiting  future  genera- 
tions. Medical  education  has  been  a  spur  to  the  higher  education 
of  women.  It  has  given  woman  a  higher  ideal  of  life,  for  every 
one  treated  in  a  hospital  learns  something  of  cleanliness  and  care 
of  the  sick,  and  carries  away  a  treasure  of  new  ideas  which  can- 
not fail  to  bring  comfort  and  health  to  cheerless  homes.     The 


224  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

character  of  the  physician  is  always  and  everywhere  honored  in 
the  East,  and  gives  an  easy  and  unsuspected  admission  to  famihar 
intercourse  with  all  classes  and  creeds.  He  who  is  a  physician  is 
pardoned  for  being  a  Christian,  religious  and  national  prejudices 
disappear  before  him,  all  hearts  are  opened,  and  he  is  welcomed 
as  if  he  were  carrying  the  dying  the  elixir  of  immortality.  It  is 
false  economy  which  sends  a  fully  trained  and  qualified  American 
medical  missionary  to  the  field  and  does  not  see  to  it  that  he  is 
provided  with  a  hospital.  If  the  medical  man  is  to  attract  men 
and  women  from  all  parts  of  his  district,  it  will  be  because  he 
is  able  to  deal  with  a  vast  mass  of  diseases ;  without  a  hospital  he 
cannot  successfully  do  this.  America  and  Great  Britain  com- 
bined demand  an  army  of  five  hundred  thousand  educated  physi- 
cians to  provide  medical  aid  for  their  teeming  multitudes;  but 
Chicago  can  boast  of  more  physicians  than  India  and  China  to- 
gether possess,  America  and  Britain  have  one  doctor  to  each 
eight  hundred  population;  in  non-Christian  lands,  one  physician 
to  every  two  and  one-half  million.  Each  doctor  in  China,  if  dis- 
tributed over  the  empire  to-day,  would  be  surrounded  by  a  popu- 
lation of  four  million  people.  There  are  five  hundred  thousand 
blind  people  walking  through  China  to-day,  seventy-five  i>er  cent 
of  whom  are  blind  from  lack  of  simple  remedial  measures.  The 
death  rate  is  forty  thousand  daily,  //  New  York  City  Ivad  one 
physician  to  look  after  her  sick  and  injured,  teach  preventable 
disease  and  hygienic  Ivuing,  she  woidd  liave  far  better  medical 
service  tJtan  China  has  to-day.  Never  before  in  the  history  of 
medicine  has  the  Christian  physician  had  at  his  command  such 
immense  resources.  Are  the  benefits  of  these  resources  to  be 
confined  to  about  one  hundred  million  people  of  America  and 
Britain?  Are  the  suflFerings  of  two-thirds  of  the  world's  popu- 
lation to  go  untended?  Is  maternity  to  be  a  dreaded  nightmare 
to  our  sisters  in  China  and  Korea,  when  the  women  of  our  own 
lands  are  tended  with  care  and  consideration?  Are  thousands  to 
continue  to  lose  their  sight  each  year  because  there  are  no  sur- 
geons at  hand  to  treat  c^hthalmia  and  remove  cataracts? 

The  Chinese  knew  nothing  until  within  the  past  few  years  of 
medical  science,  and  awful  havoc  is  being  wrought  all  over  the 
empire  by  a  lack  of  such  knowledge.  For  instance,  in  China  their 
treatment  of  the  insane:  The  poor  lunatic  is  chained,  his  feet  are 
fastened  in  the  stocks,  and  he  is  beaten  and  half  starved  with  the 


MEDICAL   WORK  IN  THE  ORIENT.  22$ 

idea  that  if  badly  treated  the  devil  will  the  sooner  leave  him ;  and 
then,  as  a  last  resort,  when  the  friends  have  grown  tired  of  giv- 
ing even  this  sort  of  care  to  their  relative,  the  lunatic  is  given 
his  freedom  in  the  desert,  his  hands  are  tied  behind  him,  he  is 
led  out  on  the  desert,  and  is  never  heard  of  again.  They  have 
no  chloroform.  If  amputating  a  limb,  they  simply  chop  and  saw 
it  off  without  regard  to  the  sufferer;  to  stop  the  flow  of  blood, 
the  stump  is  dipped  into  boiling  grease  and  cauterized.  Not  only 
is  there  cruelty  in  these  dark  places  of  the  earth,  but  there  is 
abundant  evidence  of  what  in  civilized  communities  is  indictable 
criminal  malpractice.  We  know  that  abortion  mongers  are  by  no 
means  infrequent  in  our  great  cities,  yet  here  at  least  they  have 
to  pursue  their  craft  secretly  because  of  the  pressure  of  a  grow- 
ingly  healthy  public  opinion  on  the  matter.  Where  there  are  no  li- 
censes required  to  practice  medicine,  where  superstition  and  gross 
ignorance  combine  to  allow  anything  to  be  done  which  is  dic- 
tated by  the  priest-physician  and  meddlesome  midwife,  where 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  healthy  public  opinion,  there  are  the 
very  elements  in  which  the  charlatan  can  flourish  and  pursue  his 
abominable  and  nefarious  and  deadly  traffic.  Here  is  far  more 
than  mere  cruelty  and  immorality ;  it  is  touching  the  secret  springs 
of  a  nation's  iife.  If  the  wife  and  mother  be  degraded,  love  can- 
not flourish,  and  the  home  is  blasted ;  if  the  home  is  blasted,  the 
national  unit  of  strength  is  destroyed,  and  there  is  moral  decay. 

This  is  exactly  the  sight  with  which  we  are  confronted  in  China 
and  Korea  to-day:  The  sick  and  injured  of  those  lands  are 
crushed  like  pack  ice  between  two  approaching  icebergs.  On  the 
one  side  is  disease,  claiming  from  them  their  life;  on  the  other, 
the  less  agonizing  attempts  at  treatment.  Their  diagnosis  of  ap- 
proaching death  is  none  too  certain ;  so  it  often  happens  that  the 
closing  hours  or  days  are  spent  in  terrible  discomfort  and  pain, 
and  the  end  is  hastened  by  shameful  neglect.  Mentally  contrast 
such  scenes  with  those  in  the  home  lands  when  relatives  and 
friends  are  passing  from  us.  Here  all  is  done  in  those  closing 
hours  which  love  and  forethought  can  devise  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  pain  and  the  quiet  peacefulness  of  the  sick  one;  there  it 
is  noise  and  din,  wailing  and  mourning,  cold  and  neglect,  utter 
and  hopeless  darkness. 

Dr.  Young  J.  Allen,  of  Shanghai,  invited  me  to  dine  with  him 
while  there.  He  took  me  into  his  study  after  dinner,  and  t-^ld 
15 


226  THE  OPPORTUNITY. 

me  a  great  deal  of  the  work  of  China,  past  and  present,  and  he 
spoke  with  authority,  for  he  had  Hved  there  forty-nine  years, 
and  had  held  most  important  positions  with  the  Chinese  govern- 
ment. He  credits  medical  men  with  doing  more  for  China  than 
any  other  class.  I  bade  him  good-by  May  7,  standing  in  the 
shade  of  his  porch,  his  silver  locks  glistening  and  his  face  radiant 
with  the  smile  of  a  life  well  spent.  When  I  reached  San  Francisco, 
the  news  had  preceded  us  announcing  his  death.  Young  J.  Allen 
left  as  a  legacy  to  his  Chinese  fellow-men  that  there  is  no  life  so 
quiet  and  obscure  that  it  does  not  give  a  chance  for  splendid, 
civilizing,  ennobling,  and  uplifting  endeavor,  and  the  living  of  a 
life  whose  essence  is  the  essence  of  Christ's  own  Christianity. 
To  young  medical  students  I  want  to  say  that,  from  past  personal 
experience,  you  will  talk  and  think  many  times  as  you  approach 
your  senior  year  of  a  most  serious  proposition :  "Where  am  I  go- 
ing to  locate  ?"  You  will  be  told  that  something  like  five  thousand 
to  seven  thousand  medical  men  are  graduated  from  our  schools 
every  year,  that  we  already  have  one  doctor  to  eight  hundred  of 
the  population  in  America;  and  if  you  want  to  place  your  own 
life  where  it  will  count  most,  if  you  want  to  be  a  genuine  bene- 
factor to  the  human  race,  if  you  believe  in  uplifting  humanity, 
if  you  believe  in  a  common  human  brotherhood,  I  want  you  to 
consider  prayerfully  and  soberly  the  appeal  going  up  for  well- 
equipped  medical  men  in  the  Orient. 

"For  life  is  the  mirror  of  king  and  slave, 

'Tis  just  what  we  are  and  do; 
Then  give  to  the  world  the  best  you  have, 
And  the  best  will  come  back  to  you." 

Who  knows  better  than  the  doctors  the  results  of  a  city  robbed 
of  its  medical  science  and  all  it  stands  for  ?  Who  but  the  doctors 
can  teach  scientific  hygiene  and  proper  care  of  the  sick  and  af- 
flicted of  those  lands?  When  our  medical  men  learn  the  full 
force  of  their  obligations  to  the  non-Christian  lands,  when  they 
realize  it  (and  they  will  realize  it  if  they  but  look  the  proposition 
square  in  the  face  and  get  the  facts),  then  by  their  aid  we  will  be 
enabled  to  free  the  Orient  from  its  ignorance,  superstition,  sin,  and 
suffering. 

One  of  our  writers  pictures  to  us  the  sounding  of  a  bell  upon 
the  arrival  of  accident  cases  in  European  hospitals.    Let  us  imag- 


MEDICAL   WORK   IN   THE  ORIENT.  227 

ine  that  we  hear  the  sound  of  that  bell  reverberating  around  the 
world  this  afternoon.  Did  you  hear  it  just  now?  It  was  from 
China  that  the  sound  came:  a  poor  Chinaman  has  fallen  and  in- 
jured himself;  a  crowd  gather  round;  they  gaze  and  laugh  at 
his  sufferings,  and  when  they  have  had  enough  move  off  and 
leave  him  to  die.  Exaggeration,  you  say  ?  No,  a  sober  truth ;  there 
is  no  Red  Cross  man  there  to  take  him  to  a  hospital,  no  ambulance 
to  carry  him,  no  hospital  to  which  to  take  him.  If  he  cannot 
move,  his  fellow-countrymen  will  not  help  him;  he  will  lie  there 
and  die.  The  bell  is  ringing  in  Korea  now:  a  boy  has  broken 
his  leg;  a  string  will  be  tied  tightly  around  the  fractured  limb 
until  at  last  gangrene  sets  in,  and  a  foreign  doctor  is  sent  for  to 
amputate  in  order  to  save  his  life.  The  sound  of  the  bell  in 
India  is  wafted  to  us  across  the  plains  and  mountains  of  Asia: 
it  tells  of  a  woman  in  the  hour  of  nature's  sorest  trial.  When 
the  doctor  suggests  that  an  operation  may  save  her  life,  the  hus- 
band replies:  "Better  let  her  die;  it  is  only  a  wife;  it  is  easy 
enough  to  get  another."  Now  it  is  booming  and  tolling  in  Africa, 
for  a  child  is  in  convulsions.  What  is  to  be  done?  A  red-hot 
iron  is  pressed  to  the  skull  till  a  hole  is  burned  down  to  the  brain 
to  let  the  demons  out.  Why  not  ?  It  is  only  a  girl ;  let  her  die. 
The  bell  sounds  clearer  and  clearer  now:  it  is  ringing  in  a  city 
in  America.  Some  poor  fellow  has  had  his  arm  wrenched  off  by 
machinery.  What  is  going  to  be  done?  In  an  instant  the  tele- 
phone notifies  the  hospital.  A  few  moments  later,  and  an  auto- 
mobile ambulance  and  surgeon  arrive;  tenderly  and  carefully  he 
is  placed  on  a  soft  couch  and  wheeled  into  the  automobile;  in  a 
few  moments  the  hospital  is  reached,  he  is  wheeled  on  to  an  elec- 
tric elevator,  and  hastened  to  the  operating  room.  There  the 
house  surgeon  sees  him,  a  nurse  is  there  to  carefully  tend  him; 
if  an  operation  is  performed,  it  will  be  done  under  anaesthesia. 
It  rings  again  in  the  home  land,  and  this  time  a  child  is  sick.  If 
it  is  a  poor  child,  our  splendid  children's  hospitals  are  open  for 
its  reception;  if  it  is  the  child  of  rich  parents,  the  nursery  will 
be  made  bright,  relatives  and  friends  will  bring  flowers  and  toys 
and  fruits,  a  trained  nurse  will  be  there  to  relieve  every  discom- 
fort, and  a  physician  stands  there  doing  his  noble  best  for  the 
little  life  which  hovers  on  the  border  land  of  life  and  death.  And 
all  for  a  child  in  America.  It  rings  once  more  a  loud  and  ur- 
gent summons:  a  sister  is  in  the  pangs  of  motherhood.    Thank 


228  THE   OPPORTUNITY. 

God !  there  are  gentle  voices,  hushed  footsteps,  the  skill  and  care 
of  doctor  and  nurse  are  immediately  and  as  a  simple  right  be- 
stowed on  her  and  on  the  little  life  for  whose  sake  she  is  in  sore 
distress. 

Members  of  the  medical  profession,  members  of  the  Laymen's 
Missionajy  Movement,  why  this  difference  if  we  believe  in  a  com- 
mon human  brotherhood? 


IV. 
MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 


XVIII.  THE  EDUCATIONAL  MOVEMENT 
IN  MISSIONS. 

XIX.  Protestant  Literature  in  Spanish. 
XX.  The  Work  of  the  Conference  Lay  Leader, 
XXL  The  Work  of  the  District  Lay  Leader. 
XXIL  Work  of  a  Lay  Leader  in  the  Congregation. 

(229) 


Men  enough  ?  Yes !  There  are  to-day  enough  ordained  men  in  the  min- 
istry of  the  United  States  alone  to  furnish  from  their  ranks  the  army  of 
missionaries  needed  to  evangelize  the  world  in  twenty-five  years.  And 
this,  too,  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  Church  in  holding  Chris- 
tian America  for  Christ.  In  this  country  there  are  154,320  ordained  preach- 
ers. The  population  of  the  United  States  is  85,568,159.  This  gives  us 
one  ordained  man  to  every  554  persons.  It  is  estimated  by  those  who 
have  most  closely  studied  this  question  that  50,000  ordained  missionaries 
will  be  sufficient,  taking  into  account  the  activities  of  the  native  Church, 
to  evangelize  the  world  in  twenty-five  years.  There  are  now  16,000  mis- 
sionaries on  the  field.  This  means  that  we  need  34,000  recruits.  Take 
this  34,000  men  from  our  154,320  ordained  preachers,  and  we  have  120,320 
left  for  the  work  of  the  home  land,  or  one  ordained  preacher  for  every 
711  souls.  This  would  be  an  ample  force  if  the  Church  possessed  the  true 
missionary  spirit  and  the  men  were  rightly  distributed.  We  hear  a  good 
deal  about  the  dearth  of  young  men  entering  the  ministry.  The  real  prob- 
lem, however,  is  not  one  of  ministerial  supply,  but  it  is  a  question  of  qual- 
ity and  distribution.  The  fact  is.  Churches  and  preachers  in  this  country 
are  too  thick  to  thrive.  All  over  the  land  Churches  are  multiplied  where 
one  Church  would  meet  all  the  religious  needs  of  the  people.  Alas,  how 
often  are  we  found  contending  for  a  name,  a  doctrine,  a  polity,  or  a  histo- 
ry !  And  that,  too,  in  this  day  of  opportunity  to  spread  the  gospel  over  all 
the  earth.  Christian  men  of  business  experience  will  not  long  stand  for 
this  extravagant  and  unchristian  policy.  In  the  face  of  our  abundant  sup- 
ply and  the  great  need  for  workers  in  heathen  lands  and  the  ever-enlar- 
ging opportunity  for  Christian  conquest  in  our  time,  is  it  not  strange  that 
the  great  need  of  the  Church  is  still  for  men  to  man  the  fields? 

(230) 


XVIII. 
THE  EDUCATIONAL  MOVEMENT  IN  MISSIONS. 

REV.  ED  F.  COOK,  NASHVILLE    TENN. 

I  AM  invited  to  speak  to  you  concerning 
"The  Modern  Educational  Movement  in 
Missions."  This  privilege  I  hail  with  de- 
light because  of  your  peculiar  interest  in 
the  fundamentals  of  missionary  success. 

This  is  indeed  one  of  the  great  move- 
ments of  our  time:  great  (i)  because  it 
is  so  actively  and  potentially  engaged  in 
the  making  of  the  missionary  Church 
which  shall  speedily  evangelize  the  world ; 
(2)  because  it  deals  with  that  human  agen- 
cy in  the  kingdom  susceptible  of  the  largest  development,  and 
therefore  capable  of  the  greatest  achievements — namely,  the  young 
people  of  the  Church  of  to-day;  (3)  because  education  is  indis- 
pensable to  advancement.  Being  an  educational  movement,  it 
lies  necessarily  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  future  missionary 
progress  and  success  of  the  Church. 

Philosophy  of  the  Movement. 

The  philosophy  of  this  movement  lies,  Urst,  in  the  fact  that  the 
Church  is  not  ready  for  her  missionary  opportunity. 

This  is  a  day  of  wonderful  opportunity  for  the  extension  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  for  the  doors  of  the  heathen  world  are  now 
wide  open.  A  generation  ago  they  were  scarcely  ajar ;  two  genera- 
tions ago  they  were  tightly  shut,  and  apparently  impenetrable. 
How  changed  to-day!  Yet,  with  the  doors  flung  wide  and  the 
heart  of  heathendom  laid  bare  to  the  missionary,  with  his  message 
of  salvation  to  a  lost  and  ruined  world,  the  Church  is  unprepared 
to  enter  and  adequately  possess  the  land. 

Not  only  are  the  doors  of  opportunity  wide  open,  but  all  the 
facilities  of  modern  progress  are  at  the  command  of  the  Church 

(231) 


232  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

for  carrying  forward  Christ's  kingdom.  The  wonders  wrought  by 
steam  and  electricity  have  not  only  brought  the  remote  nations  of 
the  earth  together  and  held  them,  as  it  were,  at  our  very  door, 
but  these  agencies  are  enabling  us  to  penetrate  the  interior  of  the 
continents  that  have  been  so  long  unevangelized.  By  the  building 
of  railways,  by  the  establishment  of  telegraph  lines  and  the  laying 
of  ocean  cables  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  people  has  been  facili- 
tated in  all  lands.  When  Young  J.  Allen  went  to  China,  he  was 
more  than  six  months  in  making  the  journey.  After  untold  hard- 
ship, sacrifice,  and  peril  he  reached  China's  shores,  only  to  face 
distances,  difficulties,  and  dangers.  More  than  a  year  passed  be- 
fore a  message  could  reach  the  home  Church  and  an  equal 
time  before  he  heard  from  loved  ones  at  home.  But  to-day,  so 
remarkable  are  the  facilities  of  travel  and  communication,  that 
three  or  four  weeks  of  comfortable  travel  suffice  to  reach  the  re- 
motest field  entered  by  our  Church,  and  the  doings  of  the  mission 
fields  to-day  are  told  in  to-morrow  morning's  papers.  In  the  face 
of  such  facilities  the  Church  is  planning  only  small  things,  and  has 
scarcely  begun  to  employ  these  agencies  in  any  adequate  sense. 

Not  only  is  this  true,  but  we  have  come  to  the  world  at  a  time 
when  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  in  transition.  They  are  turning 
from  the  social  and  religious  systems  of  the  past.  The  currents 
of  national  thought  and  life  are  changing.  Through  the  touch  of 
Western  civilization,  through  commercial  contact  with  Christian 
nations,  through  the  growing  influence  of  the  missionary  and 
Christian  literature,  the  leaders  and  student  classes  are  coming 
slowly  to  discredit  their  ancient  religious  systems.  Distrustful  of 
their  old  religions  and  turning  away  from  the  dark  past,  the  na- 
tions are  feeling  about  if  haply  they  may  find  God.  To  adequately 
enlarge  our  force  and  equipment  in  heathen  lands,  in  this  day  of 
transition,  is  to  channel  these  new  currents  for  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  Otherwise,  infidelity  and  materialism  will  mark  the  new 
life  of  the  nations.  And  yet  the  Church  has  not  put  one-fourth 
the  force  in  the  field  demanded  by  the  situation. 

The  laymen  of  America  are  awaking  to  their  missionary  re- 
sponsibility at  a  time  when  the  physical  agencies  for  extending  the 
kingdom  are  ample.  There  are  men  enough  and  there  is  money 
enough  in  the  Christian  Church  of  America  to-day  to  evangelize 
the  world  in  one  generation  without  impairing  the  interests  of  the 
Church  at  home,  if  God  could  but  command  the  lives  of  men  and 


THE  EDUCATIONAL   MOVEMENT  IN    MISSIONS.  233 

control  money  enough  to  finance  this  world-wide  enterprise.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Men  enough?  Yes!  There  are  to-day  enough  ordained  men 
in  the  ministry  of  the  United  States  alone  to  furnish  from  their 
ranks  the  army  of  missionaries  needed  to  evangelize  the  world  in 
twenty-five  years.  And  this,  too,  without  impairing  the  efficiency 
of  the  Church  in  holding  Christian  America  for  Christ.  In  this 
country  there  are  154,320  ordained  preachers.  The  population  of 
the  United  States  is  85,568,159.  This  gives  us  one  ordained  man 
to  every  554  persons.  It  is  estimated  by  those  who  have  most 
closely  studied  this  question  that  50,000  ordained  missionaries  will 
be  sufficient,  taking  into  account  the  activities  of  the  native  Church, 
to  evangelize  the  world  in  twenty-five  years.  There  are  now  16,- 
000  missionaries  on  the  field.  This  means  that  we  need  34,000  re- 
cruits. Take  this  34,000  men  from  our  154,320  ordained  preach- 
ers, and  we  have  120,320  left  for  the  work  of  the  home  land,  or 
one  ordained  preacher  for  every  711  souls.  This  would  be  an 
ample  force  if  the  Church  possessed  the  true  missionary  spirit  and 
the  men  were  rightly  distributed.  We  hear  a  good  deal  about  the 
dearth  of  young  men  entering  the  ministry.  The  real  problem, 
however,  is  not  one  of  ministerial  supply,  but  it  is  a  question  of 
quality  and  distribution.  The  fact  is.  Churches  and  preachers  in 
this  country  are  too  thick  to  thrive.  All  over  the  land  Churches 
are  multiplied  where  one  Church  would  meet  all  the  religious  needs 
of  the  people.  Alas,  how  often  are  we  found  contending  for  a 
name,  a  doctrine,  a  polity,  or  a  history!  And  that,  too,  in  this 
day  of  opportunity  to  spread  the  gospel  over  all  the  earth.  Chris- 
tian men  of  business  experience  will  not  long  stand  for  this  extrav- 
agant and  unchristian  policy.  In  the  face  of  our  abundant  supply 
and  the  great  need  for  workers  in  heathen  lands,  and  the  ever- 
enlarging  opportunity  for  Christian  conquest  in  our  time,  is  it  not 
strange  that  the  great  need  of  the  Church  is  still  for  men  to  man 
the  fields  ? 

Money  enough  ?  Yes !  And  millions  to  spare,  if  the  Church 
would  but  recognize  God's  claim  upon  the  wealth  of  the  Church 
to-day.  We  are  the  richest  people  on  the  globe.  The  estimated 
wealth  of  the  Church  in  America  to-day  is  $25,000,000,000.  Of 
this  amount,  $257,500,000  is  contributed  for  Church  purposes. 
This  is,  however,  only  one  ninety-seventh  of  the  amount  due  if  we 
recognize  the  justness  of  God's  claim  upon  the  Jewish  Church 


234  ,       MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

when  he  demanded  a  tithe.  Suppose  we  had  learned  the  kinder- 
garten lesson  that  God  taught  the  infant  race  when  he  began  to 
train  a  people  to  receive  the  loftier  doctrine  of  the  "Lordship  of 
Jesus  and  the  stewardship  of  men."  Having  begun  the  training 
of  the  Jew  by  requiring  one-tenth,  he  surely  expects  the  Christian 
Church  to  go  beyond  this  primary  lesson  in  Christian  giving.  If 
we  had  followed  God's  plan,  he  would  have  to-day  an  annual  in- 
come of  $2,500,000,000  for  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  How  ample 
this  seems  when  compared  with  the  $257,500,000  now  contributed 
by  the  United  States  for  all  Church  and  benevolent  enterprises  at 
home  and  abroad  !  Of  this  $257,500,000,  only  $7,500,000  is  invest- 
ed in  the  foreign  mission  enterprise — $250,000,000  for  the  benefit 
of  the  85,568,159  people  in  the  United  States  and  $7,500,000  for 
the  benefit  of  the  900,000,000  unevangelized  people  of  the  world. 
More  than  thirty-three  times  as  much  in  Christian  America  as  in 
all  the  heathen  world !  Does  this  look  like  a  just  division  of  even 
that  which  we  oflFer  God  ? 

It  is  estimated  that  $80,000,000  a  year  for  twenty-five  years  is 
sufficient  money  to  accomplish  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
The  missionary  offering  of  Christendom  is  $20,000,000 — $60,000,- 
000  short  of  the  mark.  The  question  is,  are  we  able  to  do  better? 
Is  it  possible  to  make  an  offering  adequate  to  the  enterprise?  If 
we  admit  that  the  tithe  was  just  and  expedient  under  the  old  dis- 
pensation, we  must  certainly  admit  that  it  is  a  just  and  expedient 
minimum  mark  for  Christian  liberality  in  this  day.  This  admitted, 
we  find  that  we  are  easily  able,  out  of  that  which  should  be  in 
God's  hands  for  investment,  to  devote  $80,000,000  a  year  to  the 
work  of  missions  and  have  left  for  the  home  Church  and  benevo- 
lent enterprises  the  enormous  sum  of  $2,420,000,000  per  year. 

Nothing  is  plainer  than  this:  If  the  Church  stood  on  the  high 
doctrine  of  Christian  stewardship  as  taught  in  the  New  Testament, 
and  was  consecrated  in  heart  and  purpose  to  the  work  of  winning 
the  world  for  Christ,  we  could  in  one  generation,  with  abundance 
to  spare,  finance  this  tremendous  enterprise  and  land  the  nations 
of  the  earth  within  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  [Ap- 
plause.] And  yet  the  constant  cry  of  the  Church  is  for  money 
enough  to  finance  the  movement  that  looks  to  the  salvation  of  all 
people. 

The  questions  you  face  as  representative  Christian  business  men 
are  these :  How  shall  we  bring  the  Church  fully  to  enter  the  open 


THE   EDUCATIONAL    MOVEMENT   IN    MISSIONS.  235 

doors,  wisely  to  utilize  the  agencies  of  progress,  and  with  a  strong 
hand  to  channel  the  new  currents  in  heathen  lands  for  Jesus 
Christ?  How  shall  we  secure  a  sufficient  supply  of  men  to  ade- 
quately man  the  work?  How  shall  we  spring  the  Church  to  such 
liberality  as  will  safely  finance  the  whole  gigantic  enterprise  ? 

The  only  answer  to  such  questions  is :  Educate,  educate,  educate. 
A  systematic  and  thorough  campaign  of  education  in  the  great 
gospel  and  facts  of  missions  is  the  only  means  by  which  we  can 
bring  the  Church  to  see  her  opportunity  and  responsibility.  By 
this  means  alone  can  we  bring  strong  young  men  and  women  to 
volunteer  for  the  work.  By  such  a  process  alone  can  the  Church 
be  brought  to  lay  at  God's  command  money  enough  to  carry  out  his 
missionary  plan  for  the  world. 

The  philosophy  of  this  movement  is  further  seen  in  the  fact  that 
the  basis  of  all  interest  is  information.  The  foundation  of  every 
conviction  is  knowledge.  Information  must,  therefore,  precede 
interest,  and  knowledge  must  come  before  a  deep  and  abiding  con- 
viction. 

Now,  I  submit  that  the  dominant  purpose  of  the  great  Church 
of  the  living  God  in  Christian  America  in  this  hour  is  not  to  take 
this  world  for  Jesus  Christ  in  a  generation,  because  the  Church  is 
lacking  the  advantage  of  adequate  instruction  concerning  the  gos- 
pel of  missions  as  taught  in  the  divine  Book  and  is  ignorant  of  the 
facts  of  the  modern  missionary  enterprise. 

Our  difficulty  has  been  that  we  have  relied  too  largely  upon  agi- 
tation in  the  preparation  of  the  Church  for  her  missionary  respon- 
sibility. Agitation  is  good,  but  insufficient.  Agitation  can  only 
create  an  atmosphere  in  which  to  educate.  As  good  and  helpful 
as  they  are,  the  occasional  missionary  sermon  or  missionary  ad- 
dress or  missionary  editorial  can  no  more  educate  a  Church  in  the 
gospel  and  facts  of  missions  than  an  occasional  literary  or  scien- 
tific lecture  can  give  to  a  boy  a  university  training. 

Education  implies  a  process  more  technical  and  more  careful  ; 
it  suggests  the  text-book  and  the  teacher,  the  class  and  the  class 
hour,  the  preparation  and  the  recitation,  and  all  else  that  enters 
into  a  great  campaign  of  education  among  a  magnificent  constitu- 
ency that  is  to  be  made  ready  for  life  and  life's  responsibilities. 

So  I  present  to  you,  as  the  remedy  for  our  lack  of  preparation, 
our  lack  of  interest,  our  lack  of  conviction,  and  our  lack  of  liber- 
ality, a  Church-wide  and  thorough  campaign  of  missionary  edu- 


236  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

cation.  Short  of  this,  our  great  Church  can  never  be  brought  up 
to  the  full  measure  of  her  opportunity  and  responsibility  in  this 
great  work  of  bringing  the  world  to  Christ. 

It  is  with  fervent  zeal,  therefore,  that  I  stand  before  this  mag- 
nificent company  of  Southern  Methodist  laymen  and  plead  for 
sympathy  and  cooperation  in  this  great  educational  campaign  that 
looks  to  the  preparation  of  our  Methodism  for  her  rightful  place 
in  the  forefront  of  Immanuel's  army  now  advancing  to  the  con- 
quest of  all  nations.    [Applause.] 

The  Field. 

The  field  of  this  educational  movement  in  missions  is  naturally 
and  logically  the  great  young  life  of  the  Church  of  to-day.  The 
movement's  efforts  are  directed  toward  the  whole  Church  through 
the  young  people's  societies,  the  Sunday  school,  and  the  schools 
and  colleges  of  the  land.  By  reaching  this  magnificent  constitu- 
ency, with  broad  and  thorough  plans  of  missionan,-  education,  the 
Church  of  to-morrow  may  be  made  ready  for  its  divinely  appoint- 
ed responsibility.  My  brethren,  if  ever  the  Church  is  to  be  thor- 
oughly missionary  in  faith  and  obedience,  if  ever  the  Church  is 
to  be  more  liberal,  its  training  must  begin  now. 

If  this  campaign  is  vigorously  pushed,  we  shall  live  to  see  our 
Church  fully  prepared  to  handle  with  faith  and  efficiency  her 
share  of  the  work  of  winning  the  world  for  Christ. 

Materials. 

I  wish  to  say  a  word  to  you  concerning  the  character  of  the 
materials  for  this  campaign.  The  movement,  entering  this  great 
field  which  I  have  indicated,  is  committed  to  the  making  of  the 
best  possible  missionary  literature,  a  literature  best  adapted  to  the 
purposes  for  which  the  movement  stands — namely,  the  education 
of  the  whole  Church  in  the  gospel  and  facts  of  missions.  No 
pains  are  spared  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  end.  The  best 
men  in  the  world,  regardless  of  cost,  are  secured  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  literature.  Each  year  new  text-books  on  home  and 
foreign  missions  are  issued  for  the  study  classes  and  for  general 
circulation  through  the  Church.  This,  however,  is  but  a  small 
part  of  the  output. 


THE   EDUCATIONAL    MOVEMENT   IN    MISSIONS.  23/ 

The  publication  of  literature  for  the  Mission  Boards  is  increas- 
ingly becoming  an  important  phase  of  the  movement's  activities. 
To  April  I  there  were  sold,  through  the  Mission  Boards  and  other 
agencies,  242,712  mission  study  text-books,  12,396  books  of  meth- 
ods, 170,151  volumes  of  libraries,  18,319  charts,  35,749  maps,  106,- 
216  pamphlets,  and  nearly  2,000,000  pieces  of  smaller  literature. 
As  a  direct  result  of  the  movement,  twenty-six  Secretaries  under 
the  direction  of  nineteen  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  Boards  are 
now  giving  their  whole  time  to  missionary  education  in  their  de- 
nominations. 

The  plan  of  campaign  comprehends  not  only  the  mission  study 
class  in  the  young  people's  societies  and  in  the  schools  and  col- 
leges of  the  land,  but  a  wise  and  practical  scheme  of  missionary 
education  in  the  Sunday  school,  extending  from  object  lesson 
teaching  in  the  prinaary  grades  to  a  postgraduate  course  for  teach- 
ers. 

The  Results. 

The  results  have  outrun  our  expectations.  One  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-five thousand  young  people  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
have  been  enrolled  in  mission  study  classes  in  the  current  course. 
At  least  ten  millions  of  the  fifteen  millions  of  Sunday  school  pupils 
have  been  reached  by  the  missionary  lessons  in  the  Sunday  school 
literature,  and  nearly  all  the  denominational  colleges  where  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  has  organized  for  mission  study 
have  been  brought  in  closer  touch  with  the  Mission  Boards. 

In  our  own  Church  the  records  for  this  year  will  show:  Ten 
thousand  young  men  and  women  enrolled  in  mission  study  classes, 
more  than  thirty  thousand  Junior  Leaguers  engaged  in  the  study 
of  missions,  mission  study  introduced  into  nearly  all  the  schools 
and  colleges  of  the  Church,  and  nearly  five  hundred  thousand 
Sunday  school  pupils  using  the  special  missionary  lessons  now 
regularly  published  in  our  Sunday  school  literature.  A  generation 
of  such  missionary  education  will  surely  bring  in  a  new  era  of 
missionary  interest  in  the  home  Church,  and  therefore  immensely 
larger  activities  and  results  abroad.    [Applause.] 

In  the  two  minutes  left  to  me,  may  not  I  say  to  you  that  there 
is  every  providential  indication  of  the  rapid  and  great  success  of 
the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  which  you  are  here  to  repre- 
sent?   For  a  generation  God  has  been  preparing  for  this  great 


238  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

Movement.  The  pulpits  of  this  country  have  been  publishing  the 
great  commission  with  growing  faith  and  vigor ;  the  good  women 
have  been  organized  and  diligent  in  prayer  and  study ;  the  Student 
Volunteer  IMovement  has  been  placing  the  cause  of  missions  upon 
the  hearts  of  the  choice  young  men  and  women  in  the  colleges  and 
universities  of  the  land,  and  training  them  for  service;  for  six 
years  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  has  been  waging 
a  vigorous  campaign  of  missionary  education  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  By  these  means  the  Church  is  being  prepared  to 
respond  with  enthusiasm  to  the  aggressive  leadership  of  her  lay- 
men. If  they  will  but  lay  hold  and  press  this  campaign  of  mis- 
sionary education,  ere  long  the  whole  Church  will  be  ready  to 
enter  vigorously  the  work  and  finish  up  the  task  of  evangelizing 
the  world.  She  only  waits  for  the  leadership  and  means  of  strong 
and  successful  business  men.  When  such  men  put  their  brains  and 
money  into  it,  the  missionary  enterprise  will  command  the  atten- 
tion of  all  laymen  of  the  Church.  Then  we  may  expect  to  see  the 
whole  Church  aroused  as  never  before  and  such  an  advance  along 
all  lines  of  missionary  activity  as  has  never  yet  been  made. 

As  you  bring  your  judgment  and  experience  to  the  missionary 
work  of  the  Church,  I  beg  that  you  remember  that  our  chief  re- 
sponsibility now  is  to  educate,  to  push  all  the  lines  of  agitation  and 
education,  all  the  time  and  everywhere,  until  the  zvhole  Church 
shall  be  brought  to  see  that  God  means  that  we  shall  take  the 
whole  wide  world  for  Christ  in  our  time.     [Applause.] 

As  I  face  this  great  company  of  representative  Southern  Meth- 
odist laymen  and  catch  the  heart  beat  of  your  enthusiasm  my 
faith  and  expectation  reach  full  tide.  I  see  everywhere  the  signs 
of  speedy  victory.  With  vast  educational  agencies  at  work  in  the 
Church,  with  all  the  facilities  of  modern  progress  at  your  com- 
mand, with  all  the  world  accessible  for  conquest,  surely  you  will 
lead  our  great  Church  forward  to  victory  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
The  command  is  from  God ;  the  missionary  meaning  of  his  provi- 
dence is  plain ;  his  pledge  of  divine  presence  and  help  is  imf ailing. 


"To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin." 


[Applause.] 


XIX. 
PROTESTANT  LITERATURE  IN   SPANISH. 


In  his  "Gleanings  of  the  Past"  the  late  Mr.  Gladstone  speaks  very  highly 
of  the  natural  gifts  and  literary  abihty  of  Jose  Blanco  White,  a  Spanish 
priest  who,  early  last  century,  went  to  England  and  joined  the  Anglican 
Communion.  His  father  being  a  Spaniard  and  his  mother  an  Irish  lady, 
he  knew  perfectly  both  languages.  In  1825  Blanco  translated  Paley's  "Evi- 
dences of  Christianity,"  and  sent  his  manuscript  to  Spain  to  be  printed. 
The  vessel  was  lost  near  the  coast  of  France,  but  among  portions  of  the 
cargo  that  were  rescued  out  of  the  waters  there  was  a  box  of  books,  and 
in  it  a  tin  can  containing  Blanco's  translation.  This  was  printed  in  London, 
but  in  the  course  of  time  also  went  out  of  print.  In  1893  the  second 
edition  of  this  splendid  work  was  published  in  Nashville,  and  since  then 
over  one  thousand  copies  have  been  sold.  In  this  country  it  is  considered 
an  antiquated  treatise;  but  not  so  among  the  Latin  race.  In  Mexico,  for 
instance,  conditions  are  now  very  similar  to  those  that  prevailed  in  En- 
gland in  the  seventeenth  century. 
(240) 


XIX. 


PROTESTANT  LITERATURE  IN  SPANISH. 


p.   A.    RODRIGUEZ. 


The  work  of  translating  and  publish- 
ing Protestant  literature  in  Spanish,  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  Board  of  Missions 
and  the  Publishing  House  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South,  began  in 
the  fall  of  1888,  and  has  continued  with- 
out interruption. 

In  1891  Volume  I.  of  Mr.  Wesley's 
"Sermons"  was  published.  So  great  had 
been  the  demand  for  the  Wesleyan  Stand- 
ards that  in  less  than  six  months  the  edi- 
tion of  five  hundred  copies  was  ex- 
hausted. In  the  following  year  Volume 
II.  was  printed.  These  "Sermons"  are  now  in  the  third  edition. 
Over  one  thousand  sets  have  been  sold,  and  are  in  use  by  the 
preachers  and  theological  students  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Churches  in  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico,  Mexico,  and  South  America; 
also  by  the  British  Wesleyans  in  Spain. 

Foley's  Natural  Theology. — When,  in  1821,  Mexico  gained  her 
independence  and  became  a  republic,  there  was  a  strong  reaction 
not  only  against  the  Church  and  the  clergy  that  had  sided  with 
Spain,  but  also  against  religion.  Fortunately  the  chief  leaders 
of  the  Revolution  were  native  priests,  most  of  whom  endeavored 
in  several  ways  to  stay  the  tide  of  unbelief  that  threatened  to 
sweep  over  the  whole  country.  Among  other  books  published  at 
that  time  was  Paley's  "Natural  Theology."  It  was  translated  in 
London  in  1824  by  Lorenzo  J.  Villanueva,  Secretary  of  the  Mex- 
ican Embassy.  The  President  of  the  new  republic  of  Mexico, 
Ramos  Arispe,  ordered  the  said  translation  to  be  used  as  a  text- 
book in  the  public  schools.  But  in  the  course  of  time  all  religious 
teaching  ceased  in  the  public  institutions,  and  the  book  disap- 
peared. For  years  it  was  out  of  print.  In  1892  a  reprint  of  it 
16  (241) 


242  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

was  published  by  Barbee  &  Smith,  and  the  book  sold  very  well. 
It  is  now  in  the  third  edition. 

In  his  "Gleanings  of  the  Past"  the  late  Mr.  Gladstone  speaks 
very  highly  of  the  natural  gifts  and  literary  ability  of  Jose  Blanco 
White,  a  Spanish  priest  who,  early  last  century,  went  to  England 
and  joined  the  Anglican  Communion.  His  father  being  a  Span- 
iard and  his  mother  an  Irish  lady,  he  knew  perfectly  both  lan- 
guages. In  1825  Blanco  translated  Paley's  "Evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity," and  sent  his  manuscript  to  Spain  to  be  printed.  The  ves- 
sel was  lost  near  the  coast  of  France,  but  among  portions  of  the 
cargo  that  were  rescued  out  of  the  waters  there  was  a  box  of 
books,  and  in  it  a  tin  can  containing  Blanco's  translation.  This 
was  printed  in  London,  but  in  the  course  of  time  also  went  out 
of  print.  In  1893  the  second  edition  of  this  splendid  work  was 
published  in  Nashville,  and  since  then  over  one  thousand  copies 
have  been  sold.  In  this  country  it  is  considered  an  antiquated 
treatise;  but  not  so  among  the  Latin  race. 

The  Man  of  Galilee. — All  over  Mexico  and  Cuba — and  I  fear 
the  same  is  true  of  all  Spanish-speaking  countries — the  traveler 
finds  in  almost  every  bookstore  translations  of  French  skeptical 
works,  chiefly  those  of  Voltaire  and  Renan.  To  counteract  this 
evil  influence  as  far  as  possible,  a  splendid  treatise  on  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord  was  translated  and  published  in  1894.  "The  Man 
of  Galilee,"  by  the  late  Bishop  A.  G.  Haygood,  has  proved  a 
boon  to  many  minds.  It  has  sold,  and  is  selling,  better  than  any 
other  book  we  have  printed. 

History  of  the  Christian  Church. — The  ever-increasing  num- 
ber of  candidates  for  the  ministry  of  the  Evangelical  Churches 
in  Spanish  America  demands  the  preparation  of  text-books,  and 
the  call  is  greater  and  louder  every  year.  With  the  consent  of  the 
late  Bishop  John  F.  Hurst,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
his  "History  of  the  Christian  Church"  was  translated  and  pub- 
lished in  the  year  1900.  Although  an  expensive  book,  it  has  sold 
very  well,  and  is  now  in  its  third  edition. 

The  Spanish  Reformers. — Charles  V.,  and  afterwards  Philip 
II.,  took  with  them  respectively  to  Germany  and  to  England  some 
of  the  leading  ecclesiastics  of  Spain.  These  priests  and  monks 
not  only  became  acquainted  with  the  German  and  English  re- 
formers, but  also  lived  among  them  for  months,  and  some  of 
them  for  years.     They  accepted  the  teachings  of  the  Reforma- 


PROTESTANT   LITERATURE    IN   SPANISH.  243 

tion,  and  wrote  books,  which  were  printed  chiefly  in  Geneva.  A 
Spanish  convert  by  the  name  of  Julianillo,  small  of  stature  but 
of  great  cunning  and  fortitude,  introduced  these  books  in  barrels, 
carrying  them  across  the  mountains  on  the  backs  of  mules.  After 
a  time  the  Inquisition  burned  at  the  public  autos  da  fe  both  writ- 
ings and  most  of  the  writers.  However,  the  Spanish  Reformers 
had  taken  the  precaution  of  sending  copies  of  their  books  and 
manuscripts  to  all  the  universities  and  public  libraries  of  Europe. 

During  the  first  quarter  of  last  century  Professor  Edward 
Boehmer,  of  the  University  of  Strassburg,  found  a  copy  of  one 
of  these  books  in  the  library  of  Munich.  His  royal  employer, 
William  the  Great,  relieved  him  of  his  duties  at  the  university, 
and  requested  him  to  devote  his  time  to  search  for  these  books. 
In  the  course  of  several  years  he  found  no  less  than  twenty  vol- 
umes. The  largest  of  them  is  a  fine  translation  of  Calvin's  "Chris- 
tian Institutes;"  another  is  a  "History  of  the  Inquisition"  by  an 
eyewitness ;  others  are  on  theology  and  controversial  matters,  and 
one  is  on  the  "Origins  or  Sources  of  the  Spanish  Language." 
They  all  are  written  in  the  Spanish  of  the  golden  era. 

An  English  man  of  letters,  Benjamin  Wiffen,  and  a  Spanish 
nobleman,  Luis  Osoz  y  Rio,  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
published  reprints  of  said  twenty  volumes,  and  introduced  them 
into  Spain.  Again  the  Church  managed  to  destroy  nearly  the 
whole  edition.  A  few  complete  sets  were  saved  by  placing  them 
under  the  protection  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
and  are  now  in  London.  By  order  of  the  Secretaries  of  said 
Society  the  agent  in  Madrid,  in  1901,  presented  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  with  a  complete  set. 

Works  of  Constantino  Ponce  de  la  Fuente. — In  1902  we  re- 
printed these  two  volumes,  which  contain  "Six  Sermons  on  the 
First  Psalm,"  the  "Confession  of  a  Sinner,"  and  a  "Doctrinal 
Summary,"  with  an  Exposition  of  Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
The  "Confession  of  a  Sinner"  is  a  prayer  from  the  inmost  soul 
to  the  Son  of  God,  who  had  been  given  to  man  by  the  eternal 
Father  to  be  his  Saviour  and  Judge.  Going  orderly  through  the 
Ten  Commandments  and  the  Creed,  the  suppliant  sees  every  form 
of  self-righteousness  desert  him,  and  finds  his  sole  consolation 
through  faith  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  the  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Works  of  Juan  Perez. — The  following  year,  1903,  a  third  vol- 


244  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

lime  of  the  Spanish  Reformers  was  reprinted.  In  it  the  author 
contrasts  the  old  (biblical)  doctrine  of  God  with  the  (compara- 
tively) new  doctrine  of  men,  making- copious  and  apt  use  of  Holy 
Scriptures.  For  the  third  time  these  books  have  entered  Spain, 
and  it  seems  that  they  have  escaped  destruction ;  for  we  have  sold 
nearly  two  hundred  copies  of  each. 

Systematic  Theology. — For  many  years  a  Manual  of  Christian 
Theology  for  the  students  in  the  theological  schools  in  Spanish 
America  has  been  greatly  needed.  In  June,  1905,  a  translation 
of  "Personal  Salvation:  Studies  in  Christian  Doctrine,"  by  Dean 
W.  F.  Tillett,  of  the  Theological  Faculty  in  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity, was  translated,  and  five  hundred  copies  were  printed.  Of 
these,  only  twenty-two  remain  in  stock.  A  second  edition  is  bein^ 
carefully  prepared  for  the  press. 

Skilled  Labor  for  the  Master. — In  1906  this  fine  work  on  Pas- 
toral Theology,  by  Bishop  Eugene  R.  Hendrix,  was  translated 
and  published. 

Last  year  translations  of  "Christus  Auctor,"  by  Bishop  W.  A. 
Candler,  and  of  "The  Kingdom  in  the  Cradle,"  by  Bishop  James 
Atkins,  were  published.  The  former  translation  was  made  by 
Prof.  Servando  I.  Esquivel,  of  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  and  the  lat- 
ter by  Rev.  S.  A,  Blanco,  a  missionary  of  the  British  Wesleyan 
Church,  stationed  at  Algiers,  Africa. 

Sunday  School  Literature. — For  the  past  sixteen  years  the  Sen- 
ior Quarterly,  the  International  Sunday  School  Lessons,  has  been 
published  in  Spanish ;  and  now  we  are  also  editing  the  Junior 
Lessons.  According  to  the  last  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Sunday  School  Association  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  there  are 
in  that  country  about  eleven  thousand  children  who  regularly  at- 
tend the  Sunday  schools  of  different  Churches.  We  have  3,600 
subscribers  to  the  Senior  Quarterly  and  3,465  to  the  Junior 
Lessons. 

By  the  establishing  of  the  Inquisition,  Pope  Pius  V.  and  Philip 
II.,  with  the  help  of  Domingo  de  Guzman  and  of  Ignacio  de 
Loyola,  brought  about  the  counter  Reformation,  and  succeeded 
in  keeping  Spain  and  her  American  possessions  in  the  darkness 
and  superstition  of  the  Middle  Ages  for  no  less  than  four  hun- 
dred years ;  but  the  dawn  of  a  glorious  era,  the  century  of  mis- 
sions, has  come,  and,  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel,  better 
things  are  in  store  for  my  race. 


GKOUP  OF  CONKEKEXCE  UAY  LEADERS, 

Begin  at  top,  anil  read  fioiii  left  to  right: 

T.    B.    KING,    C.    M.    I'HII.r.II'S,    A.    D.    RKVNOI-DS,    EPPS   G.    KXIGHT,  JfDGE   A.    G.    NORKELL,    W. 
.     CARKE,    K.    F.    IIIRDKN,    1,.    M.    PENNINGTON.  JUDGE    XV.    URSKINE   WILLIAMS,    P.    W.    KIKKY. 


XX. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  CONFERENCE  LAY 
LEADER. 


The  appeal  for  men  of  courage,  of  knowledge,  and  of  action  by  religious 
bodies  of  the  world  is  almost  if  not  quite  pathetic,  because  of  the  leaden 
ears  upon  which  they  have  been  falling,  even  among  those  who  call  them- 
selves the  elect.  Commerce  is  also  calling  in  clarion  tones  for  the  truest, 
bravest,  and  best,  and  the  response  is  more  universally  heeded,  the  reason 
being  that  the  captains  of  industry  are  everywhere  greatly  honored  and 
the  wizards  of  finance  are  being  lionized  by  their  fellows.  When  we  con- 
sider the  relative  importance  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  with  that  of  the 
kingdom  of  this  world,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  should  blush  with  shame 
that  the  opportunities  in  the  Church  are  not  made  even  more  attractive 
than  those  that  the  world  has  to  offer.  In  this  great  Laymen's  Movement 
we  must  have  men,  and  the  best  at  that,  if  we  succeed.  In  order  that  the 
services  may  be  volunteered  rather  than  forced,  we  ourselves  should  be- 
come enthusiastic,  and  should  by  earnest  support  make  the  conditions  more 
congenial.  We  must  make  the  official  duties  and  the  entire  ongoings  of 
the  Church  the  greatest  achievements  belonging  to  the  labors  of  this  life. 
We  feel  quite  confident  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  we  should  address 
ourselves  studiously  and  prayerfully  to  the  manning  of  the  ship  of  Zion 
rather  than  to  the  remodeling  of  her  creeds  or  to  the  reconstruction  of 
her  polity.  I  do  not  mean  to  underestimate  the  value  of  forms,  ceremonies, 
and  doctrines  in  their  effect  upon  the  propagation  of  a  great  truth,  yet  I 
contend  that  now  is  not  the  time  for  the  expenditure  of  energy  and  talent 
in  this  direction  when  our  fathers  have  wrought  so  wisely  and  compre- 
hensively. Since  man,  then,  is  the  crying  need  of  the  hour,  it  is  very  im- 
portant that  no  mistake  be  made  in  selecting  leaders  in  our  Annual  Con- 
ferences as  well  as  others  connected  with  this  Laymen's  Movement. 
(246) 


XX. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  CONFERENCE  LAY  LEADER. 


THOMAS   B.    KING,    MEMPHIS. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren:  We  have 
been  listening  with  profound  interest  to 
the  distinguished  men  who  have  presented 
the  needs  of  the  foreign  fields  as  they  have 
studied  them,  both  theoretically  and  prac- 
tically. We  heartily  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  this  occasion  and  join  the  distinguished 
visitors  and  returned  missionaries  in  their 
zeal  and  earnestness  concerning  the  great 
work  we  are  here  to  consider.  It  might 
appear  that  what  I  have  to  say,  after  these 
thrilling  speeches,  would  be  somewhat 
tame;  but  I  assure  you  it  is  none  the  less 
important,  because  it  is  very  essential  that  we  become  thoroughly 
aroused  in  our  home  Churches  before  much  lasting  good  and  defi- 
nite results  can  be  accomplished. 

The  question  which  presents  itself  at  this  moment  is :  "What  are 
we  going  to  do  with  the  facts  that  we  have  gathered  and  the  in- 
spiration that  we  have  received  when  we  return  to  our  homes?" 
Personally,  I  have  great  confidence  in  the  laymen  of  our  great 
Church,  and  I  believe  they  will  respond  with  a  heartiness  that 
shall  not  only  awaken  the  indifferent  among  our  fellow-members 
at  home,  but  will  make  glad  the  hearts  of  the  millions  of  souls 
committed  to  the  Southern  Methodist  Church  in  the  great  Mis- 
sionary Movement  among  the  various  bodies  that  have  banded 
themselves  together  in  Christian  service.  The  doctrine  of  the 
Southern  Methodist  Church  is  broad  enough  and  her  polity  com- 
prehensive enough  to  perform  her  part  in  evangelizing  the  whole 
world  before  the  twentieth  century  is  gone.  As  important  as  these 
doctrines  and  this  polity  are,  they  are  not  self-propagating  nor 
self-operative.  Probably  too  much  stress  has  been  put  of  late 
upon  the  catholicity  of  the  doctrines  adopted  and  of  the  complete- 

(247) 


248  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

ness  of  the  machinery  constructed  by  the  followers  of  our  Lord 
and  Christ  among  those  called  Methodists.  Even  statistics  giv- 
ing the  number  of  members  and  the  valuation  of  the  property 
may  operate  to  mislead  with  respect  to  power  and  efficiency. 
There  is  danger  of  producing  a  self-satisfied  condition  even  among 
the  leaders  and  of  extending  the  effect  farther  among  the  masses, 
so  as  to  defeat  the  purposes  to  which  we  are  committed  by  these 
facts.  To  be  sure,  we  may  rejoice  without  sin  in  whatever  in- 
crease in  numbers  and  improvement  in  machinery  a  careful  stock- 
taking will  disclose,  provided  it  stimulates  us  to  thankfulness  and 
brings  about  an  increased  endeavor. 

We  as  a  Church  have  a  history  that  excites  pardonable  pride; 
but  what  might  have  been  done  with  all  the  splendid  opportuni- 
ties that  we  have  allowed  to  pass  unheeded  may  some  day  take 
the  wind  out  of  our  kites  when  we  stand  before  the  final  Judge. 
Brethren,  we  must  be  reassured  that  the  most  superbly  construct- 
ed machinery  and  the  best-contrived  formulas  will  never,  in 
themselves,  comply  with  the  commandment:  "Go  teach  all  na- 
tions." It  is  not  enough  even  to  say  that  these  have  received 
divine  approval  and  that  they  have  age  as  a  guarantee  for  the 
future.  Had  this  been  true,  there  would  have  been  no  need  for 
the  Master  to  have  called  the  twelve  apostles  and  committed  to 
them  the  duties  of  propagating  the  gospel  until  all  the  world 
should  know  of  its  power  to  save.  Nor  would  there  have  been 
any  necessity  for  the  appointment  of  the  deacons  to  take  charge 
of  the  business  of  the  Church  when  murmurings  had  become  com- 
mon among  the  people  because  of  evidences  of  partiality  in  the 
daily  administration.  Man  plays  the  supreme  role,  therefore,  in 
the  enforcement  of  all  known  law,  and  especially  is  this  true  with 
reference  to  the  divine  command.  Divinity  and  materialism 
strangely  blend  in  us,  so  that  we  can  take  things  spiritual  and 
express  them  in  everyday  vernacular,  thus  making  heaven  and 
earth  work  in  harmony  with  the  one  supreme  law  of  love  and  good 
will.  This  shows  the  reason  why  the  divine  purposes  and  plans 
are  committed  to  and  depend  upon  human  agencies.  A  true  con- 
ception of  such  honor  and  responsibility  should  fill  us  with  a  holy 
impulse  and  quicken  us  into  an  outlay  of  every  faculty  of  body, 
mind,  and  spirit  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  work  for 
which  we  have  been  called  together  at  this  time. 

The  appeal  for  men  of  courage,  of  knowledge,  and  of  action 


THE   WORK   OF   THE    CONFERENCE    LAY    LEADER.  249 

by  religious  bodies  of  the  world  is  almost  if  not  quite  pathetic, 
because  of  the  leaden  ears  upon  which  they  have  been  falling,  even 
among  those  who  call  themselves  the  elect.  Commerce  is  also 
calling  in  clarion  tones  for  the  truest,  bravest,  and  best,  and  the 
response  is  more  universally  heeded,  the  reason  being  that  the 
captains  of  industry  are  everywhere  greatly  honored  and  the 
wizards  of  finance  are  being  lionized  by  their  fellows.  When  we 
consider  the  relative  importance  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  with 
that  of  the  kingdom  of  this  world,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  should 
blush  with  shame  that  the  opportunities  in  the  Church  are  not 
made  even  more  attractive  than  those  that  the  world  has  to  offer. 
In  this  great  Laymen's  Movement  we  must  have  men,  and  the 
best  at  that,  if  we  succeed.  In  order  that  the  services  may  be  vol- 
unteered rather  than  forced,  we  ourselves  should  become  enthusi- 
astic, and  should  by  earnest  support  make  the  conditions  more 
congenial.  We  must  make  the  official  duties  and  the  entire  on- 
goings of  the  Church  the  greatest  achievements  belonging  to  the 
labors  of  this  life.  We  feel  quite  confident  that  the  time  is  at 
hand  when  we  should  address  ourselves  studiously  and  prayerfully 
to  the  manning  of  the  ship  of  Zion  rather  than  to  the  remodeling  of 
her  creeds  or  to  the  reconstruction  of  her  polity.  I  do  not  mean 
to  underestimate  the  value  of  forms,  ceremonies,  and  doctrines 
in  their  effect  upon  the  propagation  of  a  great  truth,  yet  I  con- 
tend that  now  is  not  the  time  for  the  expenditure  of  energy  and 
talent  in  this  direction  when  our  fathers  have  wrought  so  wisely 
and  comprehensively.  Since  man,  then,  is  the  crying  need  of  the 
hour,  it  is  very  important  that  no  mistake  be  made  in  selecting 
leaders  in  our  Annual  Conferences  as  well  as  all  others  connected 
with  this  Laymen's  Movement. 

1.  I  consider  that  the  first  step  to  be  taken  should  be  an  appeal 
for  divine  guidance.  In  this  the  preachers  should  join  with  the 
laymen  in  their  everyday  work,  and  especially  at  the  sessions  of 
the  Annual  Conferences.  At  these  Conferences  there  should  be 
public  prayers  offered  and  discussions  engaged  in  with  reference 
to  qualifications  and  requirements  of  the  leader  and  at  the  same 
time  the  ascertainment  of  the  willingness  on  the  part  of  all  present 
to  cooperate  in  the  movement  by  preaching  and  talking  and  work- 
ing in  their  respective  charges  and  Churches  when  they  return 
home. 

2.  The  leader  should  have  a  definite  religious  experience.    I  do 


250  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

not  mean  an  experience  that  is  found  only  underneath  the  rubbish 
of  one  or  more  years'  accumulation  growing  out  of  a  zigzag  life, 
but  one  that  has  the  freshness  of  the  now  and  the  glow  and  vigor 
of  the  present  upon  it.  I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  this 
is  a  trite  saying,  still  it  is  a  qualification  that  is  as  essential  to 
good  discipleship  and  leadership  as  when  Christ  said  to  his  apos- 
tles :  "Whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?"  There  must  be  a  knowledge  in 
the  heart  of  Christ  as  the  Divine  One,  not  revealed  by  flesh  and 
blood  nor  by  any  of  the  natural  forces.  A  no  more  valuable  asset 
could  the  leader  possess  than  this  in  the  performance  of  religious 
services.  The  fact  is,  the  relating  of  living  experience  is  about  the 
most  effective  way  of  impressing  a  great  truth.  I  believe  that 
our  great  doctors  of  divinity  are  now  claiming  that  the  best  the- 
ology' to  have  is  that  of  the  heart  and  not  of  the  head.  A  man 
without  this  is  like  a  reed  shaken  by  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  but 
with  it  he  is  as  steady  as  the  oak  amid  the  blasts  of  the  storm. 

This  deep  hold  on  God  will  anchor  the  ship  far  better  and  hold 
it  much  steadier  than  even  the  prefixed  title  to  a  name,  though 
it  may  have  been  rightly  won  in  other  lines  of  human  endeavor. 
In  other  words,  no  man  should  be  selected  for  the  responsible 
place  of  Conference  leader  in  this  great  religious  movement  whose 
chief  qualification  is  that  of  Judge  or  General  or  Honorable  So 
and  So.  They  may  even  have  decided  influence  in  the  realms  in 
which  they  have  succeeded,  but  the  methods  they  would  seek  to 
employ  in  this  new  field  might  not  be  conducive  to  real  success. 
The  question  is :  "Can  'the  leopard  change  his  spots,  and  the  Ethio- 
pian his  skin?'  "  We  should  not  despise  nor  reject  a  man  because 
he  has  won  distinction  in  other  lines  of  human  endeavor,  but  we 
insist  that  this  should  not  be  the  chief  prerequisite  lOr  the  work 
we  have  specially  in  hand  and  which  we  are  to-day  considering. 

3.  The  Conference  leaders  should  love  men  in  the  broadest, 
deepest,  and  widest  sense.  This  includes  an  intelligent  conception 
of  man  and  his  greatest  needs  and  a  supreme  willingness  to  labor 
and  to  make  necessary  sacrifices  in  order  that  these  two  might  be 
brought  face  to  face.  In  doing  this  he  may  have  to  lift  men  up 
and  steady  their  steps  while  he  is  teaching  them  the  way  of  eter- 
nal life.  He  may  have  to  go  through  the  "Samaria"  of  some  pre- 
conceived prejudices  or  he  may  have  to  lay  aside  some  of  the 
ways  of  self-indulgence  that  so  easily  beset  and  hinder  him  in  his 
Christian  usefulness.    This  love  for  men  must  have  a  clear  and 


THE   WORK   OF  THE   CONFERENCE    LAY    LEADER.  2$  I 

unmistakable  and  unselfish  ring  about  it.  What  effect  enlisting 
in  this  great  struggle  will  have  upon  his  business  or  political  pros- 
pect or  professional  successes  should  be  of  secondary  considera- 
tion if  considered  at  all.  God's  work  and  man's  needs  should  be 
the  supreme  motive  prompting  him  to  offer  himself  to  the  Church 
for  such  a  responsible  place. 

4.  He  should  love  the  Church,  the  Methodist  Church,  the  warm 
and  genial  branch  known  as  the  Southern  Methodist  Church.  Not 
that  he  should  be  ever  claiming  a  divine  monopoly  upon  all  the 
means  of  grace  known  for  the  redemption  of  man.  Such  an  as- 
sumption would  be  an  abomination  to  every  benighted  heathen 
and  a  stumbling-block  of  offense  to  intelligent  people.  He  should, 
however,  know  the  doctrine  and  polity  so  that  he  could  intelli- 
gently and,  you  might  say,  with  pardonable  pride  tell  of  the  faith 
that  is  in  him  whenever  the  occasion  required.  This  knowledge 
must  be  of  a  kind  that  comes  from  the  study  of  both  the  history 
and  the  everyday  movements  of  his  Church.  While  it  is  well 
enough  to  know  what  our  fathers  said  and  did  under  varying  con- 
ditions in  the  past,  yet  it  is  far  better  to  "attend  upon  the  ordi- 
nances and  support  the  institutions"  of  his  Church  as  they  now 
exist.  This  means  that  he  should  attend  each  service  as  far  as 
practicable  held  at  his  own  church,  and  should  attend  every  offi- 
cial meeting  of  his  Church  from  Church  Conferences  up  to  the 
General  Conference.  He  may  not  always  receive  an  election  to 
these  higher  bodies,  but  that  should  not  keep  him  from  attending 
occasionally,  so  that  the  entire  machinery  of  his  own  Church  will 
be  familiar  to  him.  He  should  be  faithful  to  the  call  of  his  own 
pastor,  and  at  the  same  time  be  willing  to  help  the  brethren  in 
other  sections  of  the  Conference  of  which  he  has  oversight ;  he 
should  ever  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  he  is  a  layman,  and  there- 
fore should  not  attempt  to  assume  the  function  that  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  the  regular  ordained  minister ;  he  should,  however,  be 
willing  to  preach  lay  sermons  and  exhort  people  to  live  righteous- 
ly and  to  loyally  support  the  Church  in  all  its  branches ;  he  should 
keep  in  close  touch  with  the  laymen  or  leaders  in  every  presiding 
elder's  district  by  calling  them  in  conference  at  least  twice  or  three 
times  a  year  and  by  the  frequent  use  of  the  mail;  he  should  en- 
courage the  district  laymen  in  organizing  their  districts,  so  that 
religious  service  of  some  sort  will  be  held  in  every  church  each 
Sunday  within  the  bounds  of  the  Conference.     To  attempt,  of 


252  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

course,  to  fully  outline  the  work  as  it  affects  each  Church  would 
be  to  understand  the  conditions  prevailing  in  each,  which  would 
require  greater  time  than  is  allowed  here.  "Sanctified"  common 
sense  must  govern  all  these  matters. 

5.  A  Conference  leader  should  diligently  strive  to  secure  the 
attendance  of  each  lay  representative  to  every  Annual  Confer- 
ence. This  includes  those  elected  by  the  District  Conferences  and 
those  who  are  members  of  the  standing  boards.  This  can  be  done 
by  letter,  by  personal  appeal,  and  by  arranging  for  a  special  meet- 
ing for  the  laymen  at  the  Annual  Conferences,  where  all  are  ex- 
pected to  take  some  part.  He  can  facilitate  this  much-desired 
end  greatly  by  stirring  up  the  pure  minds  of  the  preachers  by 
way  of  remembrance,  so  that  they  will  be  more  enthusiastic  in 
their  efforts  to  get  the  laymen  to  attend  and  discharge  their  duties 
at  the  Annual  Conferences. 

6.  He  should  crown  these  with  the  splendid  virtue  of  being  a 
missionary  in  theory  and  in  fact.  He  need  not  go  into  foreign 
lands  nor  personally  lead  the  heathen  to  the  foot  of  the  cross  in 
order  to  be  a  full-orbed  missionary.  Preaching  to  the  unsaved 
at  home  by  precept  and  example  and  a  scriptural  division  of  his 
money  with  the  regularly  constituted  authorities  of  the  Church 
who  have  in  charge  the  mission  fields  will  entitle  him  to  the  honor 
of  being  a  missionary.  We  can  all  in  a  measure  fulfill  the  march- 
ing orders:  "Go  into  all  the  world."  I  pray  God  that  we  may 
bend  every  energy  to  do  this. 


XXI. 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  DISTRICT  LAY 
LEADER. 


I  will  close  by  giving  you  a  practical  application  of  such  a  vision  by  a 
small  country  Church  in  Arkansas,  with  less  than  two  hundred  members. 
After  struggling  along  in  a  half-hearted  way  for  two  years,  paying  from 
three  hundred  dollars  to  six  hundred  dollars  for  all  items  of  Church  sup- 
port, it  suddenly  assumed  obligations  of  much  larger  proportions  both  for 
home  and  foreign  work,  and  the  Church  at  once  became  very  much  alive, 
and  like  a  magnet  drew  to  it  men  and  women  who  formerly  were  ex- 
tremely indifferent.  The  scriptural  observance  of  tithing,  systematically 
and  proportionately,  made  it  possible  to  steadily  take  on  more  territory 
until  at  present  one  home  missionary  is  employed,  reaching  through  the 
pulpit  and  Sunday  school  not  less  than  five  hundred  souls.  A  deaconess 
was  secured  to  assist  the  pastor  in  charge,  and  hence  the  charity  and  help 
department  of  the  Church  through  her  labors  and  influence  has  resulted 
in  incalculable  good,  especially  in  the  work  among  young  men  in  night 
classes,  as  well  as  Bible  study.  The  home  field  has  not  localized  the 
Church  members,  but  to  the  contrary  special  emphasis  is  given  to  foreign 
missions  through  Sunday  school  missionary  programmes,  special  illus- 
trated lectures,  and  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars  per  year  is  contrib- 
uted for  the  foreign  work.  A  kindergarten  school  in  Kobe,  Japan,  was 
largely  built  and  maintained  by  the  local  Church.  The  pastor  of  this  small 
Church  receives  his  regular  salary  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars 
per  month.  This  Church  is  doing  only  what  it  ought  to  do,  and  shows 
what  any  Church  can  do  when  the  latent  forces  are  brought  into  action. 
My  lay  brethren,  and  especially  those  upon  whom  have  been  placed  the 
responsibilities  of  the  work  of  district  leaders,  will  you  not  pray  for  a 
vision  and  use  the  means  at  hand  to  spur  the  Churches  in  )'^our  district 
to  greater  activity  along  the  lines  outlined  in  the  declaration  of  our  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement? 

(254) 


XXI. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  DISTRICT  LAY  LEADER. 


A.    TRIESCHMANN,   CROSSETT^   ARK. 


In  the  development  of  our  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement  I  consider  the 
district  lay  leader's  position  one  of  vital 
importance.  Upon  him  depends  largely 
the  ultimate  success  or  failure  of  this 
Movement  in  his  particular  territory. 
It  would  be  an  unnatural  result  if  the 
inspiration  and  sentiment  of  the  lay- 
man in  his  district  exceeded  that  of 
the  leader,  as  his  title,  "Lay  Leader," 
carries  with  it  the  suggestion  of  what 
is  expected  of  him.  Hence  the  impor- 
tance of  choosing  wisely  and  prayer- 
fully the  man  for  this  office.  He  must 
have  a  world-wide  vision  and  feel  that 
Christ's  command  to  teach  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  nation 
means  not  only  ordained  preachers,  but  every  follower  of  Christ. 
His  faith  must  be  strong  enough,  so  that  he  is  willing  to  back  it 
up  with  service  and  gold.  If  you  want  to  "set  things  afire,"  fire 
up  with  coals  from  off  the  altar  first.  Enthusiasm  must  be  mani- 
fest in  all  that  we  attempt,  but  good  judgment  and  practical  meth- 
ods also  have  an  important  part. 

Let  us  consider  very  briefly  a  few  pros  and  cons :  Don't  try  to 
work  independent  of  the  leaders  above  you.  The  Conference  lay 
leader  and  the  presiding  elder  of  the  district  should  be  called  upon 
frequently  for  consultation  and  advice.  A  district  meeting  should 
be  held  at  least  once  a  year,  and  the  most  convenient  time  in  my 
opinion  is  at  the  District  Conference,  where  a  whole  day  can  be 
profitably  spent  in  planning  and  discussing  the  work  of  the  lay- 
men. The  leaders  should  have  a  carefully  prepared  record  of  all 
the  pastors  and  lay  leaders  of  his  district  in  order  to  be  able  to 
communicate  with  these  as  often  as  necessary,  and  should  make 

r255) 


256  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

a  special  effort  to  conduct  a  laymen's  meeting  in  every  charge  and 
make  a  personal  appeal,  as  well  as  through  the  lay  leaders,  to  the 
men  of  the  Church  to  enlist  in  the  "emergency  brigade"  of  ten 
thousand,  and  thereby  make  it  possible  for  our  missionaries  at 
home  and  abroad  to  carry  on  an  aggressive  warfare  against  sin 
and  heathenism  and  aid  in  the  fulfilling  of  the  prophecy  to  evan- 
gelize the  world  in  this  generation. 

The  district  leader  has  the  opportunity,  through  suggestions  at 
least,  to  help  the  local  Church  to  attain  a  higher  efficiency  in 
Church  finance;  and  how  much  need  there  is  of  reform  in  this 
department  of  worship !  The  average  Church  has  ceased  to  con- 
sider seriously  its  financial  obligations  in  the  development  of 
the  Church  in  its  broader  meaning.  The  pastor  is  handicapped 
on  account  of  debts  and  indifference,  and  the  Church  ceases  to  be 
a  means  of  grace  in  consequence  of  its  selfish  membership.  The 
pastor  has  no  business  to  worry  with  petty  collections,  and  this 
should  by  all  means  be  delegated  to  the  men  of  the  Church,  who, 
as  a  rule,  are  good  business  men,  and  their  businesslike  methods 
should  be  put  in  operation  in  the  Church,  and  thereby  increase 
the  efficiency  and  opportunity  for  good  tenfold.  It  will  require 
faithful  pleading  and  judicious  action  on  the  part  of  the  leader, 
but  success  is  certain  if  we  are  in  earnest.  Possibly  the  leader 
needs  to  begin  the  campaign  of  education  with  himself,  and  the 
very  best  source  of  instruction  is  found  in  the  Scripture.  A  very 
good  help  in  disseminating  information  is  the  free  use  of  printer's 
ink.  It  is  the  secret  of  many  a  successful  business  career,  and  can 
be  made  to  serve  the  same  purpose  if  judiciously  used  by  our  lay 
and  district  leaders. 

The  greatest  need  I  see  in  the  Church  to-day  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  district  lay  leader  is  to  talk  along  the  lines  of  systematic 
and  proportionate  giving.  I  do  not  know  of  anything  that  is  so 
needful  in  the  Church  to-day  as  that.  Some  of  the  best  helps 
dwelling  specially  on  these  subjects  may  be  secured  from  the  fol- 
lowing addresses,  inclosing  with  each  order  twenty-five  cents  for 
a  sample  lot:  "Laymen,"  310  Ashland  Boulevard,  Chicago; 
Charles  A.  Cook,  Bloomfield,  N.  J.;  E.  L.  Miller,  Peru,  Ind. ; 
and  Smith  &  Lamar,  Nashville,  Tenn.  Systematic  and  frequent 
distribution  of  such  literature  by  a  few  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Church  will  accomplish  marvelous  results.  The  Church  to  which 
I  belong,  with  a  membership  of  less  than  two  hundred,  now 


MEXICO 

SHOWING  MISSION  STATIONS  OF  THE 

M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

Engraved  Especially  for  the  Board  of  Missions 

by 

E.  M.  GARDNER  &  SON,  Nashville,  Tenu. 
SCALE  OF  MII-KS. 


a 


0  op  HW 


Stations  are  Indicated  b,v  red  stars. 


X> 


-/ 


C  Longitude         105  West  D 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  DISTRICT  LAY  LEADER.  257 

raises  in  the  aggregate  seven  thousand  dollars  annually,  whereas 
it  raised  seven  hundred  dollars  formerly  before  the  subject  of 
systematic  and  proportionate  giving  was  agitated. 

But  giving,  so  to  speak,  has  become  a  lost  art.  We  do  not 
fully  appreciate  or  understand  what  is  meant  by  giving.  I  have 
been  noticing  on  this  board  [indicating  chart  hung  above  the  plat- 
form] Paul's  method  of  Church  finance,  which  I  think  should  be 
universally  adopted,  [i  Cor.  xvi.  2.]  Some  of  you  become  great- 
ly exercised  when  some  one  breaks  the  Sabbath  in  your  commu- 
nity. Ask  yourself  the  question  down  deep  in  your  heart  if  you 
have  ever  broken  the  Sabbath  by  not  bringing  to  the  Qiurch  as 
God  has  prospered  you  during  that  week.  If  that  plan  were  fol- 
lowed by  every  Christian,  it  would  solve  most  of  the  questions  we 
have  been  discussing  here  to-day.  There's  no  question  about  it, 
if  the  Southern  Methodist  Church  would  give  in  proportion  to 
income,  we  would  not  have  to  limit  our  offerings  to  three 
million  dollars  for  missionary  work ;  we  could  raise  it  to  ten  mil- 
lion dollars.  I  have  enough  confidence  in  the  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South  (and  I  haven't  been  a  mem- 
ber of  that  Church  very  long),  to  believe  that  we  have  more  than 
ten  thousand  men  that  will  go  down  for  one  hundred  dollars  each 
not  only  once,  but  every  year  as  long  as  they  are  living.  What 
would  that  mean?  If  we  had  ten  thousand  men  (and  I  believe  we 
can  raise  it  to  twenty  thousand)  who  would  instruct  this  Mis- 
sionary Board  to  just  "call  on  us,  just  make  a  draft  if  you  want  to, 
for  one-fifth,  one-fourth,  or  one-third  of  the  amount  at  any  time 
you  need  it,"  wouldn't  these  missionaries  go  home  with  hearts 
lightened?  Just  to  think,  one  million,  two  million,  three  million 
at  their  command  for  this  work ! 

Yesterday  I  heard  a  great  deal  of  demonstration  on  the  part  of 
this  audience  as  the  pictures  were  put  on  the  canvas  and  as  these 
great  statements  were  made  by  these  great  men.  I  could  not 
cheer.  It  made  my  head  hang  blushingly  to  think  these  men  were 
giving  up  their  lives  while  this  great  work  was  suffering  for  the 
lack  of  money,  and  while  we  as  a  Church  were  giving  less  than 
two  cents  per  day  not  for  missions,  but  to  cover  every  item  in  our 
financial  budget  of  the  Church.  Now,  I  did  not  see  anything  to 
cheer  about,  with  that  staring  us  in  the  face,  as  we  waste  that 
many  times  over  every  day.  You  know  we  don't  give  willingly ! 
Why,  I  saw  men  get  up  yesterday  very  nervously;  they  were 
17 


258  MOBILIZING   THE   FORCES. 

afraid  we  were  going  to  put  that  one-million-dollar  proposition 
through. 

Now,  we  talk  a  great  deal  about  educating  people  to  missions 
before  we  get  them  to  give.  Now,  I'll  tell  you  a  secret :  The  best 
way  you  can  educate  a  man  on  missions  is  to  first  get  him  to 
give  his  money  for  missions.  Pardon  this  personal  reference:  I 
never  was  much  enthused  over  missions  until  about  four  months 
ago.  A  pastor  stated  to  me :  "We  have  a  school  at  Kobe,  Japan, 
that  is  to  be  discontinued  if  we  don't  raise  four  or  five  hundred 
dollars."  Well,  I  thought  that  was  too  bad,  and  something  told 
me  to  just  tell  that  burdened  pastor  that  I  would  provide  the 
amount,  and  to  wire  that  missionary  that  the  money  had  been 
raised  and  to  go  on.  Ever  since  that  I've  been  interested  in  mis- 
sions. If  we'll  get  a  paying  people,  we'll  get  a  praying  people 
and  we'll  get  a  pious  people.  We  have  certainly  lost  sight  of  the 
scriptural  teachings  along  the  Hues  of  giving;  and  as  a  district 
lay  leader  I  know  of  no  other  work  that  we  can  do  so  profitably 
and  that  will  be  so  helpful  as  to  try  to  inspire  others  by  example 
and  instruction  on  this  great  subject  of  systematic  and  proportion- 
ate giving.  The  most  that  a  district  leader  can  hope  to  do  in  bring- 
ing his  district  to  a  high  standard  of  perfection  in  the  development 
of  men  in  our  Churches  is  to  inspire  them,  and  by  precept  and 
example  try  to  present  a  vision  of  the  world-wide  needs.  With 
such  a  vision  the  development  of  the  latent  resources  of  our  laymen 
will  accomplish  wonders. 

I  will  close  by  giving  you  a  practical  application  of  such  a  vision 
by  a  small  country  Church  in  Arkansas,  with  less  than  two  hun- 
dred members.  After  struggling  along  in  a  half-hearted  way  for 
two  years,  paying  from  three  hundred  dollars  to  six  hundred  dol- 
lars for  all  items  of  Church  support,  it  suddenly  assumed  obliga- 
tions of  much  larger  proportions  both  for  home  and  foreign  work, 
and  the  Church  at  once  became  very  much  alive,  and  like  a  magnet 
drew  to  it  men  and  women  who  formerly  were  extremely  indiflFer- 
ent.  The  scriptural  observance  of  tithing,  systematically  and  pro- 
portionately, made  it  possible  to  steadily  take  on  more  territory 
until  at  present  one  home  missionary  is  employed,  reaching 
through  the  pulpit  and  Sunday  school  not  less  than  five  hundred 
souls.  A  deaconess  was  secured  to  assist  the  pastor  in  charge, 
and  hence  the  charity  and  help  department  of  the  Church  through 
her  labors  and  influence  has  resulted  in  incalculable  good,  espe- 


THE   WORK   OF  THE  DISTRICT    LAY    LEADER.  259 

cially  in  the  work  among  young  men  in  night  classes,  as  well  as 
Bible  study.  The  home  field  has  not  localized  the  Church  mem- 
bers, but  to  the  contrary  special  emphasis  is  given  to  foreign  mis- 
sions through  Sunday  school  missionary  programmes,  special  il- 
lustrated lectures,  and  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars  per  year 
is  contributed  for  the  foreign  work.  A  kindergarten  school  in 
Kobe,  Japan,  was  largely  built  and  maintained  by  the  local  Church. 
The  pastor  of  this  small  Church  receives  his  regular  salary  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  per  month.  This  Church  is 
doing  only  what  it  ought  to  do,  and  shows  what  any  Church  can 
do  when  the  latent  forces  are  brought  into  action. 

My  lay  brethren,  and  especially  those  upon  whom  have  been 
placed  the  responsibilities  of  the  work  of  district  leaders,  will  you 
not  pray  for  a  vision  and  use  the  means  at  hand  to  spur  the 
Churches  in  your  district  to  greater  activity  along  the  lines  out- 
lined in  the  declaration  of  our  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement? 


XXIL 

WORK  OF  A  LAY  LEADER  IN  THE 
CONGREGATION. 


In  the  diamond  fields  of  the  world,  before  an  ounce  of  quartz  has  been 
raised  to  the  surface  vast  expenditures  of  money  have  been  made  and 
extensive  preparations  entered  into;  and  as  the  shaft  sinks  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  rugged  mountain  side,  and  as  the  ore  from  day  to  day  is 
elevated  and  spread  before  the  skilled  eyes  of  the  expert,  and  finally,  as 
the  rich  vein  is  lifted  and  he  discovers  it  to  be  fine — yea,  he  says,  "Now  we 
have  a  diamond  in  the  rough" — then,  and  not  until  then,  does  the  dexterous 
hand  of  the  skilled  polisher  and  setter  begin;  and  for  days  and  weeks  and 
months,  and  sometimes  for  years,  does  he  work  in  fashioning  the  precious 
stone  to  become  a  fit  occupant  for  the  king's  crown.  Within  the  breasts 
of  the  rich  and  poor,  the  high  and  the  low,  the  well-dressed  and  the  rugged 
and  rough-clad  laymen  who  do  not  yet  realize  their  duties  nor  their  respon- 
sibilities pulsate  hearts  all  aglow  with  warmth  and  love  to  God.  They 
are  diamonds  in  the  rough,  but  yet  diamonds  for  all  that.  If  we  devote 
so  much  time  to  a  soulless  thing  which  shines  only  by  reflection,  and  which 
gives  pleasure  only  to  the  eye,  is  it  not  worth  far  more  of  our  time  to 
bring  out  these  qualities  that  they  may  adorn  the  crown  of  the  King  of 
Glory  and  shine  on  through  endless  eternity? 
(262) 


\ 

XXII. 
WORK  OF  A  LAY  LEADER  IN  THE  CONGREGATION. 


MR.  L.  M.  PENNINGTON^  EATONTON,  GA. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
I  have  been  chosen  to  speak  to  you  on 
this  the  third  day  of  our  Convention,  my 
superiors,  my  peers,  and  my  fellow- 
laborers,  on  the  subject  of  "The  Third 
Wheel  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment; or.  The  Work  of  the  Lay  Leader 
in  the  Church."  I  lay  down  the  follow- 
ing general  propositions : 

I.  That  work  is  of  noble  birth  and  holy 
parentage. 

2.  That  the  lay  leader  is  of  a  high  calling. 

3.  That  the  Church  is  of  divine  origin. 

We  have  no  respect  for  any  man,  regardless  of  what  his  finan- 
cial ability,  educational  qualifications,  or  social  standing  are,  who 
loiters  around  idling  away  the  precious  time  intrusted  to  his  care. 

The  great  God  who  created  all  things  and  set  this  old  ball  to 
rolling  set  the  pace  and  example  by  laboring  industriously  for  six 
days,  and  presented  the  result  of  his  skill  and  handiwork,  which 
has  elicited  for  ages  past  and  which  will  elicit  for  ages  to  come 
the  admiration  of  all  his  creatures. 

Our  Saviour  worked  at  the  carpenter's  bench,  and  doubtless  as 
the  finely  finished  work  passed  his  skilled  hands  and  his  trained 
and  observant  eyes  he  thought  of  the  finish,  the  symmetry,  the 
beauty  and  development  of  a  well-rounded  Christian  character. 
Away  back  yonder  when  the  world  was  in  its  infancy  and  sin  had 
obtained  its  first  victory  God  stated  in  no  uncertain  terms  that 
man  should  eat  only  as  a  result  of  his  labors.  The  Saviour  said 
on  one  occasion :  "My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."  By 
precept,  by  example,  and  by  command  from  the  two  highest  possi- 
ble authorities  comes  the  word  that  work  is  honorable,  high-toned, 
and  necessary  for  a  Christian  character. 

(263) 


264  MOBILIZING  THE  FORCES. 

The  lay  leader  is  a  man  chosen  from  the  rank  and  file  not  to  do 
ordinary  work,  but  to  do  extraordinary  work,  and  to  do  it  in  such 
a  way  that  all  will  imitate  it  and  do  it  themselves  as  easily  and  as 
pleasantly  and  more  profitably  than  the  ordinary  work  was  pre- 
viously done.  The  successful  leaders  in  all  ages  have  been  men — 
Ia\Tnen,  if  you  please — men  frequently  of  obscurity  from  man's 
point  of  view,  but  of  prominence  with  God.  The  Church,  the 
bride  of  Christ,  was  founded  at  the  close  of  a  ten  days'  prayer 
feast  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  despised  Galileans,  who  had  been 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  when  we  can  trace  our  genealogy 
back  to  a  Holy  Ghost  prayer  meeting,  it  has  the  right  blood  and 
the  right  pedigree.  So  putting  together  the  divinity  of  the  Church, 
the  nobleness  of  work,  and  the  high  calling  of  its  lay  leaders,  we 
find  that  of  necessity  to  be  successful  the  "work  of  the  lay  leader 
in  the  Church"  must,  is,  and  should  be  of  a  high  type. 

The  idea  has  prevailed  for  a  long  time  that  the  leaders  in 
Church  work  must  do  all  the  work  themselves.  In  no  other  war- 
fare would  such  a  theory  or  idea  be  permitted  to  find  a  setting. 
The  leader  in  the  Church  occupies  exactly  the  same  relative  posi- 
tion that  the  leader  in  any  other  work  does.  It  is  distinctly  his 
province  to  go  over  the  ground,  survey  the  situation,  lay  out  the 
work,  and  by  precept,  by  admonition,  and  the  instilling  of  confi- 
dence in  the  work  undertaken  to  get  "all  at  it  and  always  at  it." 
The  lay  leader  in  the  Church  should  so  arrange  his  affairs  as  to 
render  material  aid  to  his  pastor  in  all  things  which  he  under- 
takes for  the  good  of  the  Church. 

Leaders  have  varied  and  different  qualifications.  The  lay  leader, 
Moses,  was  a  stammerer,  and  it  became  necessary  to  engage  the 
services  of  the  fluent-tongued  Aaron  to  repeat  the  commands 
to  his  followers ;  but  the  world  of  literature  is  richer  for  his  hav- 
ing wielded  a  stalwart  pen. 

St.  Paul,  the  great  giant  who  had  sat  so  low  at  the  feet  of  Gama- 
liel, who  had  stood  so  high  in  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin,  thrilled  the 
world  with  his  eloquence  and  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  to  many 
nations.  Joshua,  the  military  genius,  finished  the  work  under- 
taken by  Moses,  and  yet  he  had  no  more  sense  than  to  obey  God. 
(O  God,  do  give  us  just  enough  sense  to  know  thy  will  and 
enough  consecration  to  do  it.)  Stephen  could  face  the  furious 
multitude  and  say  and  do  and  die  for  Christ's  sake.  Thus  in  the 
early  formation  of  the  Church  we  find  fluency  of  speech  and  pen, 


WORK  OF  A  LAY  LEADER  IN  THE  CONGREGATION.  265 

the  cold-blooded  determination  to  obey  (which  is  better  than  sac- 
rifice), and  the  ability  through  the  influence  of  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  die  for  right  and  righteousness.  And  we  find 
also  that  the  laymen  were  leaders  as  much  as  the  apostles,  and  on 
down  for  centuries  the  laymen  did  a  great  many  things  that  the 
ministers  are  now  doing.  But  we  see  signs  of  relief  for  the  over- 
worked clergy.  The  laymen  are  re-realizing  their  duties  and  re- 
sponsibilities and  are  hastening  to  take  them  up  again. 

We  have  to-day  in  our  Churches  men  whose  eloquence  is  capti- 
vating, whose  logic  is  convincing,  whose  writings  are  highly 
prized  masterpieces ;  we  have  those  whose  incomes  are  enormous, 
whose  purses  and  bank  accounts  are  bursting  with  fatness ;  and, 
alas !  we  have  those  whose  ideas  and  views  are  contracted  and 
whose  lack  of  knowledge  is  pitiable ;  and  all  of  these  the  lay  leader 
undertakes  to  bring  out  into  lives  of  usefulness,  to  secure  the 
consecration  of  voice,  of  pen,  and  of  money,  all  of  which  rank 
equal  in  value  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation. 

In  the  diamond  fields  of  the  world,  before  an  ounce  of  quartz 
has  been  raised  to  the  surface  vast  expenditures  of  money  have 
been  made  and  extensive  preparations  entered  into;  and  as  the 
shaft  sinks  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  rugged  mountain  side,  and 
as  the  ore  from  day  to  day  is  elevated  and  spread  before  the  skilled 
eyes  of  the  expert,  and  finally,  as  the  rich  vein  is  lifted  and  he 
discovers  it  to  be  fine — yea,  he  says,  "Now  we  have  a  diamond  in 
the  rough" — then,  and  not  until  then,  does  the  dexterous  hand 
of  the  skilled  polisher  and  setter  begin;  and  for  days  and  weeks 
and  months,  and  sometimes  for  years,  does  he  work  in  fashioning 
the  precious  stone  to  become  a  fit  occupant  for  the  king's  crown. 
Within  the  breasts  of  the  rich  and  poor,  the  high  and  the  low,  the 
well-dressed  and  the  rugged  and  rough-clad  laymen  who  do  not 
yet  realize  their  duties  nor  their  responsibilities  pulsate  hearts 
all  aglow  with  warmth  and  love  to  God.  They  are  diamonds 
in  the  rough,  but  yet  diamonds  for  all  that.  If  we  devote  so  much 
time  to  a  soulless  thing  which  shines  only  by  reflection,  and  which 
gives  pleasure  only  to  the  eye,  is  it  not  worth  far  more  of  our 
time  to  bring  out  these  qualities  that  they  may  adorn  the  crown 
of  the  King  of  Glory  and  shine  on  through  endless  eternity  ? 

How  may  they  be  reached?  Not  by  abuse,  not  by  scorn,  nor 
by  harsh  criticism;  but,  sirs,  by  heart-to-heart  conversations,  by 


266  MOBIUZING  THE   FORCES. 

instilling  of  interest  in  the  Church  and  its  various  operations  at 
home  and  abroad,  by  breaking  down  the  barriers  of  ignorance,  in- 
difference, and  unconcern.  A  campaign  of  education  on  these  lines 
has  been  going  on  steadily  for  nearly  a  century,  and  blessed  in- 
deed are  we  who  live  in  this  the  twentieth  century  of  Christian 
enlightenment  and  civilization. 

The  work  of  the  lay  leader  should  be  to  organize  in  each 
Church  the  young  men  and  young  women  into  study  classes, 
that  they  may  know  the  Bible,  the  mission  fields,  the  rules  and 
regulations  of  the  Church,  and  learn  to  know  how  to  pray,  how  to 
study,  how  to  work,  and  how  to  give  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world.  They  will  soon  take  our  places,  and  should  be  prepared  for 
the  responsible  duties  of  life.  We  prepare  our  children  to  occupy 
places  of  responsibility  and  honor  here,  and  so  frequently  fail  to 
prepare  them  for  following  in  "His  steps." 

The  lay  leader  should  work  to  the  end  of  seeing  that  every  fixed 
charge  on  the  Church  is  paid  in  full  and  more,  and  whenever 
a  Church  or  circuit  begins  to  lag  have  his  able  corps  of 
assistants  push  it  to  the  front  again.  And  I  am  more  persuaded 
every  day  that  one  of  the  best  ways  for  a  Church  to  always  pay 
these  fixed  charges  is  to  form  the  "living  link"  and  come  into 
close  "vital  touch"  with  a  special  missionary  from  each  charge 
which  is  paying  nine  hundred  dollars  or  more  for  a  pastor's  salary. 
We  can  do  it ;  will  we  do  it  ?  My  fellow-associates,  the  old  gos- 
pel chariot  has  for  a  long  time  been  dragging  on  its  axles.  As  I 
see  around  me  those  highest  in  authority  in  our  Church  circles 
and  those  who  have  returned  temporarily  from  active  service  in 
the  foreign  mission  fields,  and  as  I  observe  the  silvery  setting 
above  their  temples,  which  indicates  much  prayer,  much  thought, 
and  much  labor,  and  as  I  see  the  deep  furrows  down  their  faces, 
indicating  the  paths  of  the  burning  tears  over  the  indifferences, 
the  failures,  the  shortcomings  of  the  people  of  this  Christian  land 
of  ours  as  regards  the  condition  of  the  heathen — as  the  shining 
sun  behind  the  clouds,  I  think  I  see  the  smile  of  pleasure  as  the 
old  battle-scarred  veterans  think  of  and  hear  the  steady  tread  and 
"forward  march"  and  listen  to  the  battle  cry  of  the  relay,  the  re- 
lief party,  the  laymen  of  the  Church  hitching  on  to  move  the  world 
to  Christ. 

Now,  my  fellow-associates,  whether  by  election,  selection,  or  of 
your  own  volition  you  have  undertaken  the  leadership  of  your 


WORK   OF   A   LAY   LEADER   IN   THE    CONGREGATION,  267 

people,  remember  that  your  duties  to  them  and  your  responsibilities 
to  God  are  greatly  increased,  but  that  in  consequence  thereof  neither 
their  duties  nor  their  responsibilities  are  in  any  way  diminished ; 
and  do  not  forget  that  your  work,  if  done,  must  be  done  by  each 
individual  member;  and  if  you  do  not  know  your  duty  and  your 
place,  go  home,  get  down  your  old  Bible,  and  read  Christ's  fare- 
well sermon,  recorded  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel ; 
and  when  you  have  read  verse  26,  ask  God  to  show  you  your  du- 
ties, to  teach  you  his  will,  and  to  give  you  his  filling  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  And  then,  too,  my  brethren,  when  all  is  done,  in  the 
words  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Thetford,  remember  this:  "If  that 
bit  of  work  which  you  have  undertaken  is  for  the  love  of  God 
(and  it  must  be  that)  and  for  the  glory  of  God,  then  it  cannot  fail. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  failure  in  real  Christian  work.  We 
may  make  mistakes,  but  it  cannot  fail,  for  it  is  God's  work ;  and 
if  it  is  done  for  God,  when  we  have  done  our  best,  he  will  take 
it  and  make  use  of  it,  perhaps  so  that  we  can  see  it;  if  not,  we 
shall  see  it  in  the  light  of  the  world  to  come.  He  will  take  us  as 
we  are  and  our  work  as  it  is,  and  in  the  time  to  come  perhaps  make 
use  of  our  very  mistakes  and  build  upon  the  work  which  we  began 
in  humble  faith  and  quiet  hope  the  very  work  we  wanted  to  do, 
but  were  too  clumsy.  There  has  never  yet  been  a  work  for  Him 
that  failed." 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


PAPERS  AND  RESOLUTIONS. 

The  papers  and  resolutions  printed  below  are  those  not  in- 
cluded in  the  chapter  on  "Purposes  and  Plans :" 

Exhibit  "A." 

Resolved,  That  Dr,  James  H.  Carlisle,  of  Spartanburg,  S.  C,  one  of  the 
most  consecrated  and  gifted  laymen  of  Southern  Methodism,  who,  on 
account  of  his  feebleness  and  age,  was  unable  to  attend  this  Convention, 
but  who  still  wields  a  ready  pen,  be  requested  to  write  at  once  an  article 
on  some  phase  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  and  that  it  be 
published  along  with  other  addresses  in  the  pamphlet  to  be  issued  by 
this  Convention. 

As  this  great  Southern  layman  is  in  his  eighty-fifth  year,  this  article 
will  be  in  the  nature  of  a  farewell  message  to  his  brethren,  and  it  will 
not  fail  to  be  productive  of  the  best  results. 

It  is  to  be  much  regretted  that  Dr.  Carlisle  was  not  physically 
able  at  this  time  to  comply  with  this  request. 

Exhibit  "B." 

Whereas  missions  and  Church  Extension  are  parts  of  the  same  great 
department  of  Church  effort;  and  whereas  the  laymen  of  the  Church  are 
interested  in  whatever  contributes  to  the  spread  of  the  Kingdom;  and 
whereas  the  last  General  Conference  committed  the  Church  to  the  build- 
ing of  a  representative  house  of  worship  in  Washington,  D.  C. ;  therefore 
be  it 

Resolved:  i.  That  we  hereby  give  our  indorsement  to  this  proposition 
and  assure  the  committee  intrusted  with  this  task  of  our  willingness  to 
cooperate  with  them  in  this  important  work. 

2.  That  we  rejoice  at  the  growth  of  sentiment  in  favor  of  an  increased 
Loan  Fund  capital  for  our  Board  of  Church  Extension,  and  trust  that 
our  people  generally  will  observe  Loan  Fund  Day,  May  lo,  1908,  as  pro- 
posed by  the  Board  of  Church  Extension. 

Exhibit  "C." 

For  Exhibit  "C,"  on  the  subject  of  systematic  giving,  urging  a  tenth 
as  a  minimum,  etc.,  see  chapter  on  "Purposes  and  Plans." 

(271) 


2^2  APPENDIX. 

Exhibit  "D." 

To  Our  Fathers  and  Brethren. 

Numbers  of  laymen  in  the  Church  are  standing  idle  in  the  market 
place,  and  often  we  are  thus  standing  idle  all  the  day  long;  and  if  we 
were  asked,  "Why?"  the  answer  would  often  be:  "No  man  hath  hired 
us." 

We  laymen  want  some  definite  work.  We  want  something  to  do.  It 
is  the  desire  of  our  heart  to  do  some  useful  labor  in  the  cause  of  Jesus 
our  Master.  We  want  to  be  helpful  in  his  kingdom,  and  helpful  to  our 
pastors  and  preachers.  We  believe  in  a  division  of  the  work.  Looking 
to  this  end,  we  recommend  that  this  paper  be  the  memorial  of  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
to  the  next  General  Conference  of  our  Church  so  to  change  existing 
law,  in  some  appropriate  way,  that  the  lajTnen  of  each  charge,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  pastor,  shall  have  intrusted  to  them  the  collection 
of  the  Conference  claims  and  assessments.  Such  a  service,  if  asked  from 
us,  and  such  a  duty,  if  placed  in  our  hands,  we  will  accept  as  a  loving 
service  for  our  Church  and  a  sacred  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  God. 

Exhibit  "E." 

Resolved,  That  the  Laymen's  Movement  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  have  a  button  badge,  and  that  the  designing  and  selecting 
of  such  badge  be  hereby  referred  to  the  incoming  Executive  Committee 
with  power  to  act 

Exhibit  "F." 

For  Exhibit  "F'  see  chapter  on  "Purposes  and  Plans." 

Exhibit  "G." 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  la5Tnen  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  representing  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  in  Conference 
assembled  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  this  23d  day  of  April,  1908,  believe  the 
time  has  now  come  when  our  Church  should  build  and  equip  hospitals 
to  care  for  the  sick  and  infirm  in  such  of  the  leading  cities  and  such 
other  places  of  our  Southern  Methodism  as  seem  most  needful. 

Resolved,  That  our  General  Board  of  Missions,  having  already  been 
given  authority  in  this  matter,  be  requested  to  proceed  at  once  to  carry 
out  a  policy  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

Exhibit  "H." 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Conference  that  it  would  be  well 
for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  to  have  a  great  assembly 
ground  on  the  order  of  Northfield,  Mass.,  for  the  gathering  together  of 
our  forces  at  stated  times,  and  that  such  grounds  should  be  so  located  and 
so  improved  as  to  make  them  suitable  for  the  various  Conferences  of 
our  Oiurch  when  desirable  to  hold  them  there,  and  for  Bible  institutes 


APPENDIX.  273 

and  such  other  organizations  for  the  help  of  the  preachers  and  laymen 
and  the  general  upbuilding  of  the  Church  and  her  forces  as  may  be  de- 
cided upon  in  our  onward  movement  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  consisting  of  John  R.  Pepper, 
John  P.  Pettijohn,  Gen.  Julian  S.  Carr,  N.  M.  Burger,  R.  S.  Schoolfield, 
R.  B.  Davenport,  A.  D.  Reynolds,  with  the  request  to  take  this  matter 
in  hand  and  take  such  steps  as  they  may  think  best,  with  the  approval  of 
and  under  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

Exhibit  "I." 

Exhibit  "I,"  containing  the  resolution  on  the  Emergency  Corps,  will 
be  found  in  the  chapter  on  "Purposes  and  Plans." 

Exhibit  "J." 

Whereas  the  Sunday  school  is  the  teaching  and  training  service  of  the 
Church;  and  whereas  it  affords  the  best  and  most  opportune  channel 
through  which  all  educational  matter  covering  every  phase  of  the  great 
mission  of  the  Church  can  be  disseminated ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  Missionary  Com- 
mittee in  every  Sunday  school  of  our  Church  for  the  purpose  of  distrib- 
uting missionary  literature  to  every  member  of  the  Church  and  the  teach- 
ing systematically  of  missions  in  the  Church. 

Exhibit  "K." 

We  rejoice  in  the  rapid  development  and  splendid  success  of  the  Meth- 
odist Training  School  at  Nashville,  and  recognize  it  as  one  of  the  most 
important  institutions  of  the  Church.  Since  it  is  owned  and  conducted 
by  the  Board  of  Missions  for  the  purpose  of  giving  thorough  and  prac- 
tical training  to  our  missionary  candidates  for  the  home  and  foreign 
fields,  and  consequently  occupies  a  strategic  position  in  the  Church  and 
has  in  it  untold  possibilities  for  good  to  our  missionary  cause,  we  there- 
fore give  it  our  unqualified  indorsement  and  pledge  it  our  hearty  sup- 
port 

Exhibit  "L." 

Resolution  on  Home  Mission  Department  will  be  found  in  chapter  on 
"Purposes  and  Plans." 

Exhibit  "M." 

Whereas  we  appreciate  the  importance  and  far-reaching  results  of 
the  work  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  the  cities  of  our 
home  land ;  and  whereas  Methodism  is  weak  in  New  Orleans,  La.,  the 
greatest  city  in  the  far  South ;  and  whereas  we  realize  our  obligation  to 
aid  and  help  strengthen  our  Church  in  that  great  city,  and  realizing  this 
Conference  would  be  a  great  uplift  to  our  work  there;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  Executive  Committee  the  city 
of  New  Orleans,  La.,  as  the  place  for  holding  the  next  Conference  of  this 
Lajmien's  Missionary  Movement. 
18 


274  APPENDIX. 

On  Raising  Extension  Fund. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  we  must  make  provision  for  the  administration 
of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  in  our  Church  for  the  next  two 
years,  in  order  that  the  work  may  be  aggressively  prosecuted;  therefore 
be  it 

Resolved,  That  we  raise  now  $15,000  m  order  to  carry  on  this  work 
as  it  should  be  done. 

Some  of  the  items  to  be  provided  for  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  employment  of  a  General  Secretary,  a  layman  of  excellent  abil- 
ity both  on  the  platform  and  in  the  office. 

2.  A  stenographer  to  aid  him  in  the  great  volume  of  work  that  will 
undoubtedly  come  to  his  hand. 

3.  The  creation  and  sending  out  of  a  large  body  of  literature,  pamphlet, 
booklet,  and  otherwise,  so  necessary  to  the  education  of  the  great  army 
of  laymen  in  our  Church. 

4.  Postage  and  other  necessary  office  expenses,  which  will  also  amount 
to  considerable. 

5.  Traveling  expenses,  as  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary  for  the  Gen- 
eral Secretary  to  be  in  the  field  a  great  deal.  The  amount  to  be  raised 
here  will  be  payable  quarterly  in  advance  for  the  next  two  years,  pro- 
vided any  subscriber  does  not  wish  to  pay  all  the  amount  at  one  time. 

We  believe  this  splendid  body  of  laymen  assembled  here,  all  of  whom 
are  active,  enterprising  business  men  in  their  own  communities,  will  ap- 
preciate the  necessity  for  this  fund  for  the  administering  of  the  work  so 
necessary  to  be  done,  and  will  gladly  give  us  the  amount  required. 

We  recommend  that  the  election  of  a  General  Secretary  be  left  to  the 
Executive  Committee  when  a  suitable  man  can  be  found. 

Recommending  Church  Conferences. 

Recognizing  the  importance  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Church  being 
fully  and  early  informed  as  to  the  aims  and  plans  of  work  adopted  by 
this  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That,  as  the  best  method  for  disseminating  this  information, 
we  recommend  to  the  pastor  and  key  man  of  each  Church  that  a  Church 
Conference  be  held  as  early  as  possible  in  every  Church,  before  which 
shall  be  brought  for  indorsement  the  plan  and  work  of  this  great  Move- 
ment. 

MEDICAL  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

The  following  announcement  was  made  by  Dr.  Lambuth : 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  announcing  that,  after  two  meetings  of  the 
medical  men  who  are  delegates  and  in  attendance  upon  this  Laymen's 
Missionary  Conference,  a  Medical  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 


APPENDIX.  275 

Episcopal  Church,  South,  working  under  the  auspices  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  and  in  cooperation  with  that  Board,  has  been  organized.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

This  society  has  for  its  purpose  the  study  of  missions,  with  special 
reference  to  the  study  of  medical  missions,  and  also  the  dissemination  of 
literature  upon  the  subject  of  medical  missions,  and  desires  to  swing 
into  line  the  eight  or  ten  thousand  medical  men  in  our  Church  and  get 
them  behind  our  medical  missionary  work.     [Applause.] 

They  have  elected  Dr.  T.  F.  Staley  the  first  President  of  this  society 
[applause],  Dr.  J.  L.  Scales,  of  Louisiana,  Vice  President  [applause], 
Dr.  George  Trawick,  of  Nashville,  Secretary  [applause],  and  are  ready 
to  go  to  work.     [Applause.] 

They  simply  make  this  request  of  you :  that  you  will  turn  the  names 
of  all  the  medical  men  who  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  at  once  into  Dr.  George  Trawick's  hands,  Nashville,  Tenn., 
by  correspondence,  that  he  himself  may  get  into  immediate  correspondence 
with  these  medical  men. 

During  ttie  session  of  the  Conference  at  Chattanooga,  April 
21-23,  a  meeting  of  the  delegates  who  were  medical  practitioners 
was  called;  and  after  a  discussion  of  the  needs  and  of  the  field 
of  work,  it  was  decided  to  adopt  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions, with  the  understanding  that  this  organization  is  a  co- 
ordinate department  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement : 

Whereas  medical  missions  has  been  a  pioneer  in  opening  the  way  for 
the  gospel;  and  whereas  we  understand  that  the  Board  of  Missions  is  in 
need  of  more  men  and  equipment  to  carry  on  this  work;  and  whereas 
there  are  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  some  eight  or  ten 
thousand  medical  men;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved:  i.  That  the  time  has  come  for  the  formation  of  a  Medical 
Missionary  Society,  which  shall  work  under  the  auspices  of  and  in  co5p- 
eration  with  the  Board  of  Missions  in  furthering  this  great  work. 

2.  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed,  which,  in  addition  to  the 
Senior  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions  as  an  ex  officio  member,  shall 
be  given  authority  to  draft  and  adopt  a  basis  of  organization  and  to  act 
with  the  Secretaries  of  the  Board  in  carrying  out  the  purposes  of  the 
Society. 

The  committee  was  appointed,  the  basis  adopted  at  a  subsequent  meeting, 
and  the  following  were  elected  officers  and  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Society:  T.  F.  Staley,  M.D.,  Bristol,  Tenn.,  President;  J.  L.  Scales, 
M.D.,  Alden  Bridge,  La.,  Vice  President;  George  C.  Trawick,  M.D.,  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.,  Secretaiy;  W.  R.  Lambuth,  M.D.,  Secretary  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, Nashville,  Tenn, 

Inasmuch  as  this  organization  has  the  hearty  indorsement  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  it  is  requested  that 


276  APPENDIX. 

every  physician  in  the  Church  send  his  name  and  address  at  once  to  Dr. 
George  C.  Trawick,  208  Sixth  Avenue  North,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  for  enroll- 
ment in  the  Medical  Missionary  Society,  one  of  the  most  inspiring  move- 
ments in  the  history  of  our  Church. 

Charter  Members. 

Dr.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  Dr.  George  R.  West,  Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn. ;  Dr.  George  C.  Trawick,  Nashville,  Tenn. ;  Dr.  John  L. 
Scales,  Alden  Bridge,  La.;  Dr.  B.  L,  Branch,  Collierville,  Tenn.;  Dr.  A. 
G.  Henderson,  Imboden,  Ark. ;  Dr.  John  Johnson,  Sidney,  Ark. ;  Dr.  L. 

E.  Moore,  Searcy,  Ark. ;  Dr.  C.  B.  Van  Arsdall,  Harrodsburg,  Ky. ;  Dr. 

F.  H.  Gardner,  Fabius,  Ala.;  Dr.  J.  W.  Tankard,  Lilian,  Va.;  Dr.  J.  R. 
Brown,  Malta  Bend,  Mo.;  Dr.  T.  F.  Staley,  Bristol,  Va.-Tenn. 

CONSTITtn-ION. 

1.  The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  the  Medical  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

2.  The  purpose  of  this  organization  shall  be  to  enlist  the  ten  thousand 
medical  and  dental  practitioners  of  our  Church  in  the  study  of  missions 
in  general  and  of  medical  missionary  work  in  particular;  to  get  them  in 
touch  with  our  medical  missionaries  in  the  foreign  field;  and  to  coop- 
erate with  the  General  Board  of  Missions  in  supporting  these  medical 
missionaries,  in  building  mission  hospitals  in  which  the  sick  and  suffering 
may  be  ministered  to,  and  in  maintaining  such  medical  missionary  work 
under  the  Board  both  at  home  and  abroad  as  shall  directly  contribute  to 
the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

3.  This  Medical  Missionary  Society  shall  work  under  the  auspices  of 
and  in  cooperation  with  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  and  shall  not  be  considered  a  separate  and  independent 
organization,  but  shall  be  a  part  of  our  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement 
and  shall  direct  its  energies  and  contributions  through  the  regularly  con- 
stituted channels  of  the  Church. 

4.  Any  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  who  is  a 
graduate  of  a  regular  medical  or  dental  college  may,  upon  application 
through  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  Executive 
Committee  and  by  payment  of  the  registration  fee,  be  enrolled  as  a  mem- 
ber. All  medical  missionaries  of  our  Church  shall  be  made  honorary 
members  of  this  Society  upon  presentation  of  their  names  by  any  member. 

5.  The  officers  of  this  Society  shall  be  a  President,  a  Vice  President,  and 
a  Secretary.  The  Senior  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions  shall  be 
ex  officio  a  member  of  this  Society,  and  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of 
Missions  shall  receive  and  transmit  all  funds,  keeping  a  separate  account 
of  the  same  on  his  books  and  rendering  an  annual  statement  of  receipts 
and  disbursements. 

6.  The  registration  fee  in  this  Medical  Missionary  Society  shall  be  two 
dollars,  payable  annually  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Missions  of 


APt'ENDlX.  277 

the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  810  Broadway,  Nashville,  Tenn., 
on  or  before  the  first  of  January  of  each  year.  The  registration  or  mem- 
bership fee  shall  be  applied  to  the  expense  of  correspondence  and  to  the 
preparation  and  circulation  of  such  literature  on  medical  missions  as  shall 
promote  the  interest  of  the  work. 

7.  The  organ  of  the  Medical  Missionary  Society  shall  be  the  monthly 
periodical,  Go  Forward,  published  by  the  Board  of  Missions,  which,  in 
consideration  of  the  payment  of  the  annual  fee  of  two  dollars,  shall  be 
sent  free  of  charge  to  each  member. 

8.  The  members  of  the  Society  shall  be  encouraged  to  join  the  Emergency 
Corps  of  ten  thousand  men,  to  whom  the  emergency  needs  in  the  ongoing 
of  our  mission  work  at  home  and  abroad  may  be  presented  either  for  con- 
tribution or  for  personal  service,  both  contribution  and  service  being 
voluntary,  and  left  in  every  case  to  the  ability  and  convenience  of  the  indi- 
vidual member  of  the  Emergency  Corps  at  the  time  the  call  is  made. 

9.  There  shall  be  a  meeting  every  two  years  of  the  Medical  Missionary 
Society  at  the  same  time  and  place  of  holding  the  Conference  of  the  Lay- 
men's Missionary  Movement,  at  which  time  the  Secretary  of  the  Society 
shall  present  a  report  of  the  membership,  of  the  literature  circulated,  the 
work  done,  and  the  needs  and  outlook  of  our  medical  missionary  work. 


THANKS  EXTENDED. 

The  following  paper  was  offered  at  the  closing  session  by  the 
Executive  Committee,  and  adopted  with  applause  by  a  rising 
vote: 

We  hereby  extend  our  most  sincere  thanks  to  the  people  of  Chattanooga 
for  the  unstinted  kindness  and  hospitality  extended  to  us  during  our 
stay  and  for  the  innumerable  special  courtesies ;  and  to  the  association  of 
citizens  known  as  "The  Chattanoogans,"  who  have  so  splendidly  enter- 
tained our  distinguished  guest,  the  British  Ambassador,  we  would  express 
our  sincere  thanks. 

We  also  desire  to  record  our  high  appreciation  of  the  part  that  Mayor 
Crabtree  has  taken  in  and  for  this  body. 

But  very  especially  do  we  wish  to  thank  the  Local  Committee  for  their 
untiring  efforts  and  for  their  most  generous  and  comprehensive  arrange- 
ments on  behalf  of  the  Conference. 

To  the  press  of  the  city  for  uniform  and  constant  kindness  in  the  use 
of  their  columns  we  heartily  accord  just  praise. 

The  railroads  have  given  us  reduced  rates  and  otherwise  helped  toward 
the  success  of  the  meeting.  For  their  courtesies  and  cooperation  we 
acknowledge  ourselves  indebted. 

We  ask  that  these  expressions  be  adopted  by  a  rising  vote. 


278  APPENDIX. 

MISSIONARY  EXHIBIT. 

The  Missionary  Exhibit,  arranged  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  J.  E. 
McCulloch,  Superintendent  of  the  Training  School,  was  one  of  the  telhng 
features  of  the  Conference.  It  occupied  the  Sunday  school  room  of  Cen- 
tenary Church,  and  was  visited  and  enjoyed  by  large  numbers  of  people. 
It  was  indeed  an  exhibit  of  missionary  work.  It  contained  a  museum  of 
curios  from  foreign  lands,  charts  and  statistical  tables  in  colors,  samples 
of  literature  and  methods  in  all  departments  of  missionary  activity,  pic- 
tures of  buildings,  of  groups  of  natives,  of  workers,  together  with  appli- 
ances for  teaching  missions  in  the  Sunday  school.  This  exhibit  was  the 
product  of  much  thought  and  toil,  and  was  itself  a  school  of  missions. 

LITERATURE. 

A  vast  amount  and  great  variety  of  literature  was  displayed,  both  for 
free  distribution  and  for  sale.  The  patronage  of  both  kinds  was  liberal, 
and  there  were  many  inquiries  for  the  best  literature  for  given  conditions, 
showing  a  spirit  of  investigation  and  a  determination  to  acquaint  the  unin- 
formed with  the  great  cause  of  missions.  This  literature  as  well  as  the 
exhibit  was  emphasized  by  liberal  and  skillful  advertising. 

MOVING  PICTURES. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  the  Conference  was  the 
lectures  given  by  Dr.  Lambuth  each  afternoon  with  moving  pic- 
tures from  mission  fields.  They  were  not  only  object  lessons  of 
immediate  value  to  those  present,  but  also  as  an  illustration  of 
the  possibilities  of  the  stereopticon  as  a  means  of  missionary  edu- 
cation. The  scenes  were  illustrative  of  mission  work  and  of 
the  habits  and  customs  of  heathen  peoples.  The  speaker's  per- 
sonal relation  to  many  of  the  persons  and  scenes  and  his  own 
recital  of  his  memories  and  experiences  on  the  field  gave  a  thrill- 
ing touch  of  realism  that  brought  forth  frequent  applause. 

Dr.  W.  F.  McMurry  was  on  the  programme  for  a  speech  on 
the  "Problem  of  the  Downtown  Church."  He  very  generously 
surrendered  his  time  to  others,  with  the  promise  that  the  manu- 
script would  be  furnished  for  publication  in  this  volume.  Owing 
to  the  sickness  of  his  assistant  and  the  pressure  of  duties  in  the 
office,  he  was  unable  to  furnish  us  the  address  in  time.  Our  first 
regret  was  that  this  vital  home  mission  theme  should  not  have 
been  discussed  on  the  platform  by  one  so  able  to  illumine  it;  and 
our  second  is  that  we  cannot  print  it  in  this  volume. 


REAL  AND  POSSIBLE  GIFTS  OF  THE  M.  E.  CHURCH, 
SOUTH,  TO  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

What  we  give  to  Foreign  Missions        If  each  Sunday  school  scholar  in 
annually,  $736,000.  our  Church  gave  one  cent  a 

week,  it  would  amount 
to  $586,226. 


Five  cents  per  week  from  each  Church  member  would  be 
$4,486,214  annually. 

(279) 


JUST  THE  TENTH. 

Annual  Income  of  Membership  of  M.  E.  Church, 

South,  at  75  Cents  a  Day  Each, 

$450,000,000. 


TOTAL  TITHE  REPRESENTED  BY  CIRCLE. 


WHAT  A  TENTH  WOULD  MEAN. 
The  income  of  the  average  citizen  is  at  least  75  cents  a  day.    Ten  years 
ago  it  was  55  cents.     For  Church  members  who  are  mostly  adults  and  also 
above  the  average  it  would  be  higher.    The  above  is  on  the  very  conserva- 
tive basis  of  75  cents  a  day  income  for  each  Church  member. 
(280) 


HOW  ARE  WE  MEETING  THE  NEED? 


Field  of  one  missionary  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
150,000. 


Field  of  worker 
of  M.E.  Church, 
South,  in  the 
United  States. 


□ 

800. 


We  have  one  worker  for  about  every  800  in  the  United  States;  in  heathen- 
ism, I  to  150,00a 


On  each  one  of 
the  40,000,000 
heathen  for 
whom  we  are 
responsible 
we  spend  i^ 
cts.  annually. 


D 

1%  cts. 


On  each  one  of  the  8,000,000  in  the  United  States 

to  whom  we  minister  we  expend  each  year 

$1.26. 


Comparison  of  per  capita  distribution  of  funds  at  home  and  abroad. 

(281) 


MISSIONARY  FORCE  AND  FIELD  OF  THE 
M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

Force. 


WHAT   IT   OUGHT 

TO   BE. 

WHAT 

IT 

IS. 

291  we  now  have. 


1,600  missionaries  needed. 


Field. 


7,000,000 
we  are  now 
reaching   in 
foreign  lands. 


(282). 


40,000,000 

for  whom  we  are  now  responsible 

in  foreign  fields. 


NEED  AND  SUPPLY  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD. 


8,000,000 
people  in  the  United 
States  on  whom  we 
expend  $10,000,000. 


40,000,000 
people  in  heathen  lands  on  whom  we  expend 

$750,000. 


It  is  estimated  that  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  ministers  to  8,000,000  in  the 
United  States  and  is  responsible  for  the  evangelization  of  40,000,000  in 
heathen  lands.  These  squares  indicate  the  relative  waj  in  which  we  are 
meeting  this  responsibility. 


What  we  aim  to  raise  annually. 


$3,ooo,ooa 


What  we  raise 
annually. 


$7So,oc)a 


(283) 


INCREASE  OF  RECEIPTS  FOR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


For 

1908 


1878 


$1,000,000 


$9,459,000 


The  above  can  only  claim  to  show  approximately  the  average  for  the 
decade  beginning  with  the  date  on  the  left.  Only  round  numbers  are 
given.  The  last  block  Indicates  the  income  for  the  year  1907,  and  shows 
the  total  increase  for  two  decades  in  yearly  contributions. 

(284) 


RELATIVE  NEEDS  OF  MEDICAL 

MISSIONS. 

To  every  2,500,000  people  in   heathen  lands,  one 

medical  missionary  ;    to  same  number  in 

United  States,  4,000  physicians. 

• 

1 ,    ..    .     . 

EACH    DOT   REPRESENTS    ID   PHYSICIANS. 

Ttiat  there  Is  need  for  all  talents  and  abilities  on  the  foreign  field  is  illus- 
trated by  the  need  for  physicians  and  medical  missionaries  there.  While 
there  are  4,000  physicians  to  minister  to  2,500,000  people  in  the  United 
States,  there  is  but  one  available  to  the  same  number  of  heathen  whose 
needs  are  greater  in  proportion  to  their  ignorance  of  the  right  principles 
of  living  and  caring  for  themselves.  There  are  openings  for  all  God-given 
talents  on  the  field. 

(285) 


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SUMMARY  OF  STATISTICS  OF  FOREIGN    MIS- 
SIONS, M.  E.  CHURCH,  SOUTH,  1901-08. 


Missionaries  (including  wives  of 

missionaries) 

Teachers  and  helpers 

Bible  women 

Day  schools 

Pupils  in  day  schools 

Boarding  schools 

Pupils  in  boarding  schools 

Hospitals  and  dispensaries 

Patients  treated 

Total  value  of  mission  property. 


I90S. 

Increase. 

281 
371 

'It 

87 
233 
103 

3.185 

44 
S.S06 

4 

52,406 

1,800,963 

1,086 

20 

4,210 

39,274 
$903,156 

Decrease. 


INCREASE  OF  MEMBERS  IN  MISSION 
FIELDS,  1906-07. 

Total  for  all  Protestant  missions 137,714 

For  every  day  in  the  year 377 

Or  an  increase  of  members  amounting  to 9^ 

Total  for  all  American  Protestant  missions 66,147 

A  ratio  of  increase  of 11% 

At  9%  our  increase  at  home  would  be 150,000 

At  1 1  %  our  increase  at  home  would  be .  180,000 

In  Korea  our  gain  last  year  was 62% 

At  62^  our  gain  at  home  would  be 1,029,200 

The  gain  in  Korea  for  each  missionary  in  our  Church  was 54 

At  that  rate  at  home  we  would  gain 378,000 

(288) 


ANNUAL  CONFERENCE  LEADERS. 

CONFERKNCE.  LaY  LkADER.  AdDRESS. 

Alabama Judge  A.  E.  Barnett Opelika,  Ala. 

Arkansas P.  W.  Furry Van  Buren,  Ark. 

Baltimore F.  B.  Thomas Roanoke,  Va. 

Columbia J.  J.  Lamb Coquille,  Oregon. 

Denver , 

East  Columbia . 

Florida T.  J.  Watkins Orlando,  Fla. 

German  Mission . 

Holston Maj.  A.  D.  Reynolds Bristol,  Tenn. 

Kentucky J.  L.  Gaugh Wilmore,  Ky . 

Little  Rock Judge  J.  S.  Steel Lockesburg,  Ark. 

Los  Angeles . 

Louisiana .W.  W.  Carrd New  Orleans,  La. 

Louisville CM.  Phillips Louisville,  Ky. 

Memphis T.  B.  King Memphis,  Tenn. 

Mississippi Judge  A.  G.  Norrell Florence,  Miss. 

Missouri Judge  B.  J.  Casteel St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Montana . 

New  Mexico Judge  D.  G.  Grantham Carlsbad,  N.  Mex. 

North  Alabama Dr.  S.  C.  Tatum Center,  Ala. 

North  Carolina Gen.  J.  S.  Carr Durham,  N.  C. 

North  Georgia L.  M .  Pennington Eatonton,  Ga. 

North  Mississippi. . .  .Judge  F.  A.  Critz West  Point,  Miss. 

North  Texas E.  G.  Knight Dallas,  Tex. 

Northwest  Texas Judge  W.  E.  Williams Fort  Worth,  Tex. 

Oklahoma Dr.  A.  E.  Bonnell Muskogee,  Okla. 

Pacific . 

St.  Louis Dr.  J.  W.  Vaughan St.  Louis,  Mo. 

South  Carolina J.  B.  Carlisle Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

South  Georgia R.  F.  Burden Macon,  Ga. 

Southwest  Missouri.. . 

Tennessee Prof.  Wm.  Hughes Spring  Hill,  Tenn. 

Texas R.  D.  Hart Texarkana,  Tex. 

Virginia J.  P.  Pettyjohn Lynchburg,  Va. 

West  Texas R.  H.  Wester San  Antonio,  Tex. 

Western  N.  Carolina.. C.  H.  Ireland Greensboro,  N.  C. 

Western  Virginia Mr.  M.  W,  Thomas Ashland,  Ky. 

White  River F.  M.  Daniel Mammoth  Spr's,  Ark. 

19  (289) 


COMMITTEES  OF  THE  CONFERENCE. 


Committee  on  Permanent  Organization. 
W.  W.  Carre,  Louisiana,  Chairman. 


A.  Trieschmann,  Arkansas; 
W.  M.  Sloan,  Missouri; 
J.  L.  Dantzler,  Mississippi; 
O.  A.  Park,  Georgia; 
Judge  Newman; 
J.  R.  Deason,  Tennessee; 
J.  D.  Whitcomb,  Texas; 


Judge  O'Rear,  Kentucky; 
L.  B.  Blaylock,  Texas; 
T.  S.  DeArman,  Oklahoma; 
T.  J.  Watkins,  Florida; 
Chairman  and  Secretary  ex  officio 
members. 


Committee  on  Resolutions  and  Business. 

W.  G.  M.  Thomas,  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  Cfiairman. 
E.  F,  Sheffey,  Virginia ;  W.  M.  Tatum,  Mississippi ; 

W.  Erskine  Williams,  Texas;  C.  M.  Phillips,  Kentucky; 

R.  F.  Burden,  Georgia;  Satterfield,  Oklahoma; 

George  McNapier,  Georgia;  W.  B.  Stubbs,  Georgia. 


LOCAL  COMMITTEES. 


Committee  of  Arrangements. 


Creed  F.  Bates, 
J.  N.  Trigg, 
B.  F.  Fritts, 
T.  O.  Trotter, 


J.  L.  Foust,  Cfiairman. 
W.  E.  Brock, 
J.  H.  Thomas, 
J.  A.  Hargraves, 
W.  A.  Schoolfield, 


Peter  Engers, 
C.  R.  Wallace, 
R.  F.  Calloway, 
W.  H.  Frazier. 


General  Reception  Committee. 
Charles  W.  Rankin,  Cfiairman. 


L.  A.  Webster, 

Earl  M.  Alexander, 

Hugh  Burger, 

Charles  Clinton, 

Howard  D.  Crowe, 

Walter  Fisher, 

Carl  Groner, 

William  H.  Marsh, 

Robert  Parsons, 

Charles  Simmons, 

Frank  Stone, 

Thomas  H.  Weatherford, 

A.  S.  Oakman, 

Lee  Barnes, 

(290) 


Mike  Cureton, 
Rudd  Loder, 
Clifford  Longley, 
Robert  Woodberry, 
Harry  E.  Chapman, 
T.  E.  Patterson, 
H.  F.  Wenning, 
Orville  Beasley, 
Elmer  Cornes, 
Clarence  Graves, 
Forrest  Groover, 
Roy  Kirven, 
Will  Light, 
Charles  Sparks, 


T.  T.  Rankin, 
Robert  M.  Bennett, 
James  R.  Cash, 
Ralph  Garmany, 
Edgar  Jones, 
William  S.  Latimore, 
Lewis  F.  Turner, 
Ralph  Wardlow, 
Lyle  W.  West, 
Neil  Thomas, 
S.  B.  Cook, 
J.  E.  Ramsey, 
Lavins  M.  Thomas. 


APPENDIX.  291 

Speakers*  Reception  Committee. 
J.  Milton  Browne,  Chairman. 
Mayor  W.  R.  Crabtree,  Judge  M.  M.  Allison, 

S.  G.  Gilbreath,  Creed  F.  Bates, 

E.  B.  Craig,  W.  H.  Weatherford, 

Frank  H.  Atlee,  ,      C.  W.  Beise, 
C.  W.  K.  Meacham,  R.  F.  Calloway, 

Rev.  R.  A.  Kelly,  W.  I.  Young. 

Committee  on  Music. 
W.  J.  Smith,  Chairman; 
Rev.  John  C.  Orr,  Director. 
J.  S.  McLearen,  R.  F.  Calloway, 

H.  F.  Wenning,  T.  O.  Eldredge, 

H.  B.  Wood,  S.  H.  Seymour. 

Press  Committee. 

J.  A.  Burrow,  Chairman. 

A.  M.  Trawick. 

Exhibit  Committee. 
J.  E.  McCulloch,  Chairman. 
Mrs.  J.  B.  Cobb,  W.  E.  Towson. 

Committee  on  Literature  and  Missionary  Education. 
Ed  F.  Cook,  Chairman. 

Committee  on  Hotels. 
Charles  W.  Rankin,  Chairman. 
S.  B.  Cook,  J.  E.  Ramsey. 

Committee  on  Homes. 

Lavins  M.  Thomas,  Chairman. 

T.  E.  Patterson,  H.  E.  Chapman. 

Reception  Committee. 

Charles  W.  Rankin,  Chairman. 

Lavins  M.  Thomas,  T.  E.  Patterson, 

S.  B.  Cook,  H.  E.  Chapman, 

J.  E.  Ramsey. 

Committee  on  Ushers. 
J.  H.  Thomas,  Chairman. 
W.  E.  Brock,  J.  E.  Ramsey. 

Interdenominational  Committee. 
John  R.  Pitner,  Chairman; 
T.  E.  Patterson,  Vice  President. 
John  S.  Martin,  Rev.  J.  A.  Baylor. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Foreign  Missions. 

The  Foreign  Missionary.    Arthur  J.  Brown,  D.D $i  50 

The  Call  of  Korea.     Underwood 75 

The  New  Horoscope  of  Missions.     Dennis i  00 

The  Missionary  and  His  Critics.    Barton i  00 

The  Awakening  of  China.     Martin 3  50 

In  the  Valley  of  the  Nile.    Watson i  00 

The  Missionary  and  His  Critics.    J.  L.  Barton i  00 

The  Missionary  Interpretation  of  History.     Stevenson 75 

The  Bible  a  Missionary  Book.    Dr.  R.  F.  Horton i  00 

God's  Missionary  Plan  for  the  World.    Bishop  Bashford 75 

John  G.  Paton.     Cloth i  50 

Pastor  Hsi.    Mrs.  Howard  Taylor 100 

Missions  in  the  Sunday  School.    Miss  Hixon 50 

A  Century  of  Protestant  Missions  in  China.     (Historical  volume  of 

the  Centenary  Conference  in  Shanghai).., 250 

With  Tommy  Tompkins  in  Korea.    Underwood i  25 

The  Vanguard.    J.   S.   Gale i  35 

The  Lady  of  the  Decoration.     F,  Little 90 

Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom.    DeForest 50 

Griffith  John.    The  Story  of  Fifty  Years  in  China.    R.  W.  Thomp- 
son      2  00 

East  of  Suez.    Penfield 200 

New  Forces  in  Old  China.    A.  J.  Brown i  50 

The  Bible  in  Brazil.    H.  C.  Tucker.     Net i  25 

A  New  Era  in  Old  Mexico.    G.  B.  Winton i  00 

The  Romance  of  Missionary  Heroism.     John  C.  Lambert i  50 

Islam :  A  Challenge  to  Faith.     S.  M.  Zwemer i  00 

Strategic  Points  in  the  World's  Conquest.    John  R.  Mott.. 85 

Protestant  Missions:  Their  Rise  and  Early  Progress.     Dr.  Thomp- 
son.   Cloth,  so  cents ;  paper 35 

Life  of  Laura  Askew  Haygood.     O.  E.  Brown i  00 

The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  This  Generation.    John  R.  Mott  i  00 
The   Why  and  How   of   Missions.     Arthur   J.    Brown.     Cloth,   50 

cents ;    paper 35 

Modem  Missions  in  the  Far  East.    Lawrence.    Revell  &  Co i  So 

Christianity  in  Modern  Japan.     E.  W.  Clement l  00 

The  Evolution  of  New  China.    Eaton  &  Mains I  50 

American  Diplomacy  in  the  Far  East.    John  W.  Foster 3  20 

(292) 


APPENDIX.  293 

Medical  Missions. 

The  Healing  of  the  Nations.  Dr.  J.  Rntter  Williamson,  member  of 
the  British  Medical  Association.  i2mo.  95  pages.  Price,  paper, 
25  cents;  cloth $0  40 

The  Medical  Mission:  Its  Place,  Power,  and  Appeal.  W.  J.  Wan- 
less,    M.D.     i2mo.    96  pages.     Price,   paper 10 

Medical    Missions:    Their    Place    and    Power.    John    Lowe.     i2mo. 

Cloth.      Price    I  50 

John  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  M.D.,  Medical  Missionary  to  China.    Mrs. 

Mary    I.    Bryson.    i2mo.    Cloth 150 

Home  Missions. 

The    Present    South.    Murphy i  50 

Christianity's    Storm    Center.     Stelzle i  00 

Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis.     Rauschenbusch i  25 

The  Open  Church  for  the  Unchurched.    McCulloch i  00 

The  Challenge  of  the  City.    Josiah  Strong.     Paper,  35  cents ;.  cloth .       50 

The  Incoming  Millions.    Grose.    Cloth,  50  cents;  paper 3c 

Workable   Plans  for  Wide- A  wake   Churches.    Reisner.     Net i  50 

Aliens   or  Americans  ?    Grose.    Net 5c 

The    Good    Neighbor.     Richmond.     Net 6c 

The  Church  and  the  Changing  Order.    Matthews.    Net i  50 

The  Bitter  Cry  of  the  Children,    Spargo.     Net i  50 

Poverty.    Hunter    i  50 

The  Negro  the  Southerner's  Problem.     Net   i  25 

Migrating  Nations:  America's  Opportunity.     Pamphlet.     Bishop  E. 

R.    Hendrix ic 

The  Call  of  the  West.    Pamphlet.    Bishop  James  Atkins ic 

Order  these  books  of  Smith  &  Lamar,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


Accidents  and  what  is  done,  229. 

Advance  accelerating,  43. 

Adventurer  and  trader,  95. 

Agriculture,   115. 

Allen,  Y.  J.,  quoted,  227, 

Ambassador  Bryce,  Introduction 
of,  86. 

America  a  laboratory,  126. 

America  divinely  guided,  223. 

American  evil  in  China,  169. 

America's  place  in  the  world's  in- 
fluence, 57. 

Amputation  in  China,  227. 

Apostles  Asiatics,  78. 

Appendix,  273. 

Asia  first  had  our  gospel,  78. 

Asia,  industrial  changes  in,  123. 

Assembly  Grounds,  272. 

Awakening  of  the  Orient,  58. 

Badge    for    Laymen's    Movement, 

272. 
Battle  of  Mukden,  31. 
Battles  about  Chattanooga,  27. 
Begging  to  be  taught,  175. 
Bell,  sounding  for  accident,  229. 
Bibliography,  292. 
Blind  people  in  China,  226. 
Boards  splendidly  organized,  40. 
Boston  and  China,  46. 
Bound  as  a  slave  to  give  the  price, 

69. 
Boy  and  Shinto  drum,  151. 
Boys  and  girls  in  city,  122. 
Bricks  without  straw,  217. 
Broken-hearted  people,  140. 
Bryce,  Ambassador,  86. 
Buddhism  in  Japan,  137. 
Business  methods,  216. 

Call  to  Laymen,  x. 
Campaign  of  education,  6. 
Campaign  of  education  needed,  237. 


Capen,  S.  B.,  address,  35. 

Captain  of  life,  105. 

Carlisle,  James  H.,  271. 

Catholicism   Protestantized,   136. 

Center  of  civilization,  55. 

Center  of  the  world's  news,  160. 

Charter  members  of  Medical  Mis- 
sionary Society,  276. 

Charts   and   Statistics,   280-285. 

Chattanooga  Conference  character- 
ized, 3. 

China  and  America,  169. 

China,  a  new  mind,  161. 

China  anti-foreign,  161. 

China  awake,  160. 

China  awakening,  37. 

China  not  warlike,  171. 

China's  cry,  45. 

China's  need,   173. 

China's  strength,  170. 

China's  weakness,  172. 

Chinese  bravery,  141. 

Christ  entombed,  218. 

"Christus  Auctor"  in  Spanish,  246. 

Church  buildings  a  necessity,  216. 

Church  Conferences,  274. 

Churches  in  the  city,  120. 

Church  extension,  271. 

Church  the  greatest  thing,  73. 

Cities    dominant,    117. 

Cities  multiplying  gifts  to  mis- 
sions, 66. 

Civilization  not  enough,   141. 

Coleridge,  30. 

Collections  in  full,  266, 

Colleges  and  missions,  40,  173. 

Commerce  and  Latin  America,  215. 

Commerce  and  missions,  56. 

Committees,  290. 

Comparative  number  of  workers 
at  home  and  abroad,  46,  281, 
282. 

(297) 


298 


INDEX. 


Comparison  of  Methodists  and 
Presbyterians,  15. 

Conditions  of  Church  membership 
strict  in  Korea,   163. 

Conference  Lay  Leader,  249. 

Confession,   our  missionary,   xvi. 

Confucianism  failing,  139. 

Constitution  of  Medical  Mission- 
ary Societies,  276. 

Contrast  of  races,  96. 

Conviction  rests  on  knowledge,  237. 

Cooperation  needed,  58. 

Corruption  by  prosperity,  146. 

Cost  of  reaching  each  person,  65. 

Crabtree,  Mayor,  2:j. 

Crisis  in  Korea,  186. 

Critical  period,  97. 

Cry  of  the  hungry,  187. 

Cuba,  209. 

Cuba  set  free,  209. 

Danger  to  our  own  sons  in  Cuba, 

213. 
Dawn  in  the  Arctic,  32. 
Declaration  card,  48. 
Definite  work  for  laymen,  272. 
Definition  Laymen's  Movement,  viii. 
Dewey,   the    agent   of    Providence, 

160. 
Diplomat  and  missionary,  39. 
Diplomats  of  United  States,  42. 
Disease  and  death  a  terror,  227. 
District  Lay  Leader,  255. 
District  meeting  yearly,  255. 
Dr.  Goucher  in  India,  67. 
Domestic  missions,  19. 
Doom  of  pagan  faiths,  135. 
Drift  of  population  to  cities,  122. 
Duty  of  every  Christian,  87. 
Dynamite,  social,  120. 

Educational  Crisis  in  Korea,  186. 
Educational  movement  in  missions, 

233- 
Educational  policy  and  methods,  21. 
Education  in  missions,  6. 


Egypt  in  process  of  change,  158. 

Emergency  corps,  17. 

Emergency   men,  6. 

Emerson,  crisis  in  life,  223. 

England  and  America  as  mission- 
ary nations,  58. 

England  and  America  without 
Christianity,  88. 

English  taught  in  Japan,  51. 

Equipment  a  necessity,  216. 

Estimates  of  the  Chattanooga  Con- 
ference, 7. 

Examination  in  Western  learning. 

Exhibit,  Missionary,  278. 
Expense  Fund,  274. 

Far  East  no  longer,  142. 

Fast  collection,  183. 

Few  laborers,  46. 

Financial  ability,  236. 

Financial  panic,  145. 

Field  of  missionary  education,  228. 

Food  demand  limited,  116. 

Food  supply,  115. 

Foot-binding  in  China,  225. 

Force  not  needed,  96. 

Foreign  and  home  field  compared, 

45- 
Foreigners  in  cities,  119. 
Forward,  the  call  to  go,  131. 
Foundation-laying,  43. 
Freedom  from  sin,  213. 

Giving  as   a   means  of  education, 

258. 
Gospel  and  flag,  160. 
Gospel  not  Anglo-Saxon,  78. 
Governments  and  uncivilized,  95. 
Government  sympathy,  40. 
Governments  weak  to  uplift,  76. 
Growth  of  Chattanooga,  27. 
Growth  of  the   Church  in  Korea, 

182. 

Hardy,  Alpheus,  50. 

Hay,  John,  influence  of,  58L 


INDEX. 


!99 


Haystack  prayer  meeting,  35. 

Heathen,  not  savage,  141. 

Heathen  unprovided  for,  61. 

Hendrix,  Bishop,  introduction,  86. 

Heroic  age,   107. 

High  civilization  of  China,  171. 

Hiroshima  Girls'  School,  153. 

Historical   Statement,  vii. 

Hoisting  Magnet,  31. 

Home  and  foreign  field  compared, 

45- 
Home  Department,   19. 
Home   missions,   responsibility  for, 

80. 
Homes  in  tlje  city,  121. 
Home  work  helped,  47. 
Hospitals  essential,  226,  272. 
Human  agency  demanded,  250. 
Hungry  souls  taunted,  187. 

Ideal  of  the  Church,  74. 
Immigration,   119. 
Imperfections  of  the  Church,  "j^. 
Income  from  a  tenth,  236,  280. 
Increase    of   income    for   missions, 

284. 
Increase  of  wealth,  124. 
India  restless,   158. 
Indifference  of  the  many,  44. 
Industrial  changes  in  Asia,  123. 
Industrial  revolution,  121. 
Influence  of  Cuba  on  us,  212. 
Influence  of  Latin  America,  214. 
Influence  of  missions  on  nations,  42. 
Information  begets  interest,  237. 
Insane  and  their  treatment,  226. 
Intelligent  plan,  5. 
Intemperance,  94. 

Interdenominational   committees,  48. 
Intolerance  of  truth,  132. 
Introduction  of  Mr.  Bryce,  86. 
Invasion  from  the  South,  213. 
Investigation  by  fifty  men,  49. 
Investment  that  pays,  68. 

Jackson  at  New  Orleans,  143. 
Jacob  Riis  quoted,  47. 


Japan  eager,  46. 
Japan  in  Korea,  224. 
Japan  learning,  138. 
Jenny  Lind,  106. 
John  Hay's  influence,  58. 

Key  men,  48. 
Korea,  181. 

Korean  Christians,  164. 
Korean  liberality,  183. 
Korea's  crisis,  186. 

Laborers  at  home  and  abroad,  46. 
Laborers  few  in  Korea,  187. 
Latin  America,  211. 
Lay  Leader  in  congregation,  263. 
Lay  Leader  of  Annual  Conference, 

249. 
Laymen  in  home  missions,  80. 
Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  in 

England,  60. 
Laymen's  Movement  defined,  viii. 
Leaders,  list  of,  289. 
Leader's  qualifications,  251. 
Liberality  of  Koreans,  183. 
Liberality,  too  broad,  132. 
List  of  books,  292.  ^ 

Literature  circulated,  239. 
Loyalty  of  Koreans,  183. 
Lunatics  in  China,  226. 
Luxury  weakens,  125. 

Machinery,  its  effects,  114. 
"Man  of  Galilee"  in  Spanish,  244. 
Massachusetts  and  China,  46. 
Materials  for  missionary  education, 

238. 
McMurry,  W.  R,  278. 
Mechanical  wealth,  116. 
Medical  missionaries,  46,  285. 
Medical  Missionary  Society,  6,  274. 
Medical  missionary  welcomed,  226. 
Medical  work  in  the  Orient,  223. 
Methodism  and  evangelization,  144. 
Methodist  Training  School,  273. 
Method  of  missionary  education,  22. 
Michael  Angelo,  31. 


300 


INDEX. 


Million  dollars  asked,  13. 

Missionaries  few,  46. 

Missionaries   needed   to   evangelize 

the  world  in  this  generation,  60. 
Missionary  and  diplomat,  39. 
Missionary   Conference,   xvi. 
Missionary  Exhibit,  278. 
Missionary,  false  idea,  215. 
Missionary  force,  282. 
Money  is  abundant,  49. 
Money  needed,  79,  176. 
Monroe  Doctrine,  38. 
Mountain  sections,  28. 
Moving  pictures,  278. 
Mukden,  battle  of,  31. 

Napoleon  and  Alexander,  30. 

Need  and  how  met,  281. 

Need  and  supply,  283. 

Need  of  missionaries,  46. 

Need  of  more  laborers  in  Korea, 
187. 

Need  of  strong  missionaries,  216. 

Need  of  the  nations,  140. 

Need  realized  in  China,  173. 

Need,  where  greatest,  44. 

Neesima,  Joseph,   50. 

New  England  with  only  two  phy- 
sicians, 46. 

New  mind  in  China,  161. 

New  Orleans  recommended  for 
next  meeting  place,  273. 

Newspapers  in  China,  160. 

New  York  and  China  compared, 
226. 

New  York  and  Cuba,  215. 

Niagara  and  commerce,  26. 

Niagara  of  wasted  power,  30. 

Northern  Presbyterians  quoted,  14. 

Number  enrolled  in  Mission  Study, 

239- 
Number  heathen  compared  to  num- 
ber at  home,  62. 

Old  religions  dj^ing,  98. 

One  meal  a  day,  184. 

One  physician  in  New  York,  226. 


Opium  and  officeholders,  39. 
Opium  curse,  224. 
Opportunity,  the,  41. 
Oppression  in  Cuba,  210. 
Organization  Laymen's  Movement, 

48. 
Organization,  Plan  of,  50. 
Origin     of     Laymen's     Missionary 

Movement,  36. 

Pagan  Religions  doomed,  135. 

Paley's  "Natural  Theology"  in 
Spanish,  243. 

Papers  and  Resolutions,  271. 

Paradise  regained  will  be  a  city, 
127. 

Pastor  and  finances,  256. 

Personnel  of  the  Chattanooga  Con- 
ference, 4. 

Peter's  sense  of  obligation,  105. 

Philosophy  of  missionary  educa- 
tion, 233. 

Physicians  few,  46. 

Plan,  intelligent,  5. 

Plan  of  organization,  20. 

Plan  of  the  Movement,  47. 

Playing  at  missions,  49. 

Policy  of  missionary  education,  21. 

Political  crisis  in  Korea,  186. 

Postage  stamp  a  week,  36. 

Postage  stamp,  reading  a,  104. 

Power  of  the   Church,  75. 

Preachers  as  business  men,  79. 

Preachers  compared  to  population, 
61. 

Preachers  to  spare,  58. 

Preaching  in  Catholic  churches,  131. 

Presbyterians,  Northern,  quoted,  14. 

Priestly  immorality  in  Cuba,  210. 

Problem  of  downtown  church,  278. 

Problem  of  missions,  124. 

Problems  of  the  city,  119. 

Progress,  why  slow,  91. 

Prohibition  resolution,  19. 

Protection  of  the  weak,  96. 

Protestantized  Romanism,   136. 

Protestant  literature  in  Spanish,  243. 


INDEX. 


301 


Publications  circulated,  239. 
Purpose    of    Laymen's    Missionary 

Movement,  21. 
Purposes  and  plans,  13. 

Qualifications  of  leaders,  251,  264. 
Queen  Victoria,  108. 

Reading  a  postage  stamp,  104. 
Religious  crisis  in  Korea,  186. 
Religious  experience  of  Leader,  250. 
Resolutions,  271. 

Response  to  address  of  welcome,  29. 
Responsibility,  sense  of,  103. 
Results  of  mission  study,  239. 
Revival  in  Korea,  185. 
Revolution  in  the  air,  158. 
Rice  toll  for  Christ,  184. 
Rich  men  and  missions,  50. 
Riis,  Jacob,  quoted,  47. 
Romanism   degenerate,   135. 
Romanism  in  Cuba,  210. 
Romanism  Protestantized,  136. 
Rum  of  the  white  man,  225. 

Sale  of  a  temple,  137. 
Saloon  in  power,  118. 
Secretary  Taft  on  missionaries,  35. 
Selfishness  of  withholding  the  gos- 
pel, 134- 
Shanghai,  the  center  of  the  world's 

news,  160. 
Share    of    heathen    for    American 

Churches,  62, 
Share  of  unevangelized  for  M.  E. 

Church,  South,  64. 
Skeptical  literature  in  Mexico  and 

Cuba,  244. 
Social  dynamite,   120. 
Soldiers    furnished    by    States    in 

Civil  War,  63. 
Something  doing  in  the  world,  156. 
Soochow  University,  174. 
Southern     Methodist     missionaries 

commended,  152. 
Southern  Presbyterians  quoted,  15. 


South  needed  by  the  nation,  35. 

Spanish  literature,  243. 

Spanish  oppression  in  Cuba,  210. 

Spanish  reformers,  244. 

Spanish  treatment  of  American 
natives,  92. 

Speculation  fails,  133. 

Spirit  of  the  Chattanooga  Confer- 
ence, 3. 

Staley,  T.  F.,  223. 

Statesmanship  and  missions,  56. 

Statistical  results  of  missions,  35. 

Statistics  of  Foreign  Missions, 
286-288. 

Stir  in  the  East,  82. 

Stir  in  the  world,  157. 

Story  of  Chattanooga  quoted,  9. 

Strength  of  Christ,  102. 

Strict  conditions  of  Church  mem- 
bership in  Korea,  163. 

Struggles  of  Cuba,  209. 

Success  abroad,  37. 

Success  at  home,  39. 

Success  measured,  89. 

Sunday  School  Missionary  Com- 
mittee, 273. 

Surface  imperfections  of  the 
Church,  ^^. 

Systematic  giving,  256. 

Taft,  Secretary,  35. 

Taj  Mahal,  164. 

Taunting  the  hungry,  187. 

Team  work,  49. 

Tenth  a  financial  basis,  16. 

Tenth,  what  it  would  mean,  280. 

Testimonies  concerning  the  Chat- 
tanooga Conference,  7. 

Text-books  of  missions  sold,  239. 

Thanks  extended  to  Chattanooga, 
citizens,  and  others,  277. 

Thetford,  Bishop  of,  quoted,  267. 

Thinking  in  millions,  105. 

Tides  of  the  Spirit,  loi. 

Tithe  the  kindergarten  of  stew- 
ardship, 236. 

Tithe  urged,  16. 


302 


INDEX. 


Tithing  and  its  results,  258. 
Toll  of  rice,  184. 
Trader  and  adventurer,  95. 
Trade  with  Romish  countries,  215. 
Training  the  young,  266. 
Transition  in  heathen  lands,  234. 
Travel  and  communication,  234. 
Tribute   to   American   missionaries, 

90. 
Truth  in  personal  form,  ^Z- 
Truth  intolerant,  132. 
Turkey,  "The  Sick  Man,"  158. 
Turning  to  the  West,  82. 
Two  sons  given  to  missions,  145. 
Type  of  missionary  needed,  215. 
United  States  a  world  power,  41. 
Uprising  of  men,  66. 

Village  stage  of  civilization,  122. 

War  is  on,  17. 
War  with  Japan,  151. 
Washington  City  Church,  271. 


Wealth  of  American  Church,  235. 

Wealth  of  the  city,  117. 

Wealth  of  United   States   in   1940, 

125. 
Welcome,  27. 

Western   learning,    37,    174. 
White,  Jose  Blanco,  244. 
White  races  dominant,  97. 
Why     the     Laymen's     Missionary 

Movement  ?   2)^. 
Woman  degraded,  45. 
Women  and  medical  missions,  225. 
Work  and  its  dignity,  263. 
World  a  neighborhood,  159. 
World  campaign  for  missions,  55. 
World  shrinking,  41. 
World's  news  center,   160. 

Yellow  peril,  141, 

Young  people  a  new  constituency, 

40. 
Yun  Chi  Ho,  154. 


3'/ 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

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^3  7 


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